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In the
battle of the newly crowned and deposed Premiership
Champions, there looked from early on to be only one winner.
The difference between the sides was summed up in two
periods of first half play. When Currie, already 10-3 down,
hammered with everything they had at the Boroughmuir line,
the hosts broke clear and raced ninety-five metres for
Charlie Keenan to score a try. When Boroughmuir had a
similar period of pressure on the Currie line, Euan Matheson
stretched out an arm to give ’Muir their fourth score.
There had
been concerns before the match that perhaps, with the league
title sewn up last weekend at Ayr, the Boroughmuir players
could take their foot off the gas and be brought crashing to
earth by their Edinburgh rivals. As coach Eamon John said in
midweek, however, there are still places to be played for in
a potential cup run, so players still had to go out on the
field and impress.
To that
end, with three regular starters unavailable for selection,
there was chance for some who are maybe on the fringe of the
side to stake their claim. In the front row, Irishman Conor
Costigan deputised for the injured Cam Ward whilst James
White and Greg Cottrell replaced the usual midfield pairing
of Elgan O’Donnell and Malcolm Clapperton. All three did
more than enough to justify their inclusion and perhaps
place a few worrying thoughts in the minds of those whose
place they took.
The game
began with ’Muir looking the more dangerous attacking
threat, but it was a former scrum half of the home side,
Richard Snedden, who got the first points on the board. With
neither regular place kickers Jonny Smith or Ali Warnock
available, Snedden took over the duties and landed a penalty
to put his side ahead, but it was a short-lived lead.
Boroughmuir
have built up a reputation this season of being able to
attack from anywhere at any time, and that was certainly
further enhanced today. From a lineout just outside the
Currie twenty-two, Matt Cannon swung a pass to Rory Couper
who hit the line at pace. Couper skipped inside opposite
number Andy Hutt and fed Stephen Ruddick who dived over
unchallenged for the score. Cannon’s conversion attempt
drifted wide of the posts, but ’Muir had a lead they never
let slip.
The lead
was soon up to seven points when Keenan crossed for his
first try of the match. Again from the left wing just
outside the Currie twenty-two, this time after Graeme
McCallum had won turnover ball with a storming drive through
the centre of the Currie ruck, ’Muir swung the ball right.
Cottrell made the initial break and found Olly Brown in
support, the flanker putting Keenan clear into the corner
for the score.
It was from
this point that Currie had their best period of the first
half. Mark Cairns and Richard Snedden were to the fore in
their efforts, but wave after wave of their attack broke
upon the rock solid Boroughmuir defence. Eventually when
Currie knocked on and ’Muir were awarded a scrum, the
visitors were made to pay for their lack of cutting edge by
a quite astonishing try.
With the
scrum turned slightly, blindside flanker Cairns was unable
to break quickly enough to stop Cusiter darting down
Boroughmuir’s right flank. The scrum half drew the tackle of
Andy Hutt and found Keenan on his outside. The winger did
well in the muddy conditions to avoid the touchline, and
then out sprinted Andy McMahon before showing both Andy Muir
and Geoff Caldwell a clean pair of heels and touching down
in the corner. Cannon’s conversion flashed across the front
of the posts to leave ’Muir’s lead at twelve.
Currie
pulled the gap back slightly with what proved to be their
final points of the match, Snedden landing his second
penalty of the match after ’Muir had been caught offside,
but by the half time whistle the hosts had wrapped up a try
bonus point.
Like Currie
had before them, they fashioned a period of pressure just
yards from the line. Keenan, Martyn and Pringle all came
close to barging over, and just when it looked as if the
chance might have passed, Euan Matheson took a pass from
Pringle and smashed his way through fly half Andrew Binikos
for the score. Cannon added the extra two as the half time
whistle went.
Matheson’s
try had effectively ended the game as a contest, so it
wasn’t too surprising that there was little score in the
second period. For much of the half, the ball was in
Currie’s possession and indeed for ten minutes they had a
man advantage after international referee Paul Honiss’
patience finally snapped and he sent Fergus Pringle to the
sin bin. The second forty minutes though, was a case of
Boroughmuir needing no further points and Currie simply
unable to get any.
Whenever
the visitors felt they may have sniffed a gap, up popped a
Boroughmuir shirt to prove otherwise. The tackling of centre
partnership White and Cottrell in particular impressed, as
did a try-saving effort from Keenan when Hutt seemed certain
to score.
The only
points of the half came late in the day when Rory Couper
converted from close range. Angus Martyn, who had been a
thorn in the side of the Currie half-back pairing all day,
looked to have created a gap for himself, but when tackled
chose to pass to Couper and the ’Muir captain touched down
on the left wing. Cannon’s conversion attempt came back off
the post, but it was hardly critical to the result.
The win
proved again just why Boroughmuir have been crowned
Champions this season. Statistically they have both the best
defence and the best attack in the league – Couper’s try
meant they have scored a remarkable six hundred points in
nineteen matches – and when you have the ability to keep
your opponents out and then take the chances that are
presented to you, it is going to take someone at their very
best to deny your victory.
Boroughmuir: Stephen Ruddick;
Charlie Keenan, Greg Cottrell, James White, Rory Couper;
Matt Cannon, Calum Cusiter; Freddie Lait, Sean Crombie,
Conor Costigan; Fergus Pringle, Graeme McCallum; Olly Brown, Euan
Matheson,
Angus Martyn. Subs Used Danny Rutterfors, Davie Cunningham.
Stuart Waddell, Ben Fisher, Ed Mills |
