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The
Boroughmuir title challenge – and we can no longer avoid
calling it anything other than that – gained pace today as
they recorded their sixth straight win at the start of the
season. Wins at Goldenacre have become quite commonplace for
the Meggetland side, but never are they easy and this
afternoon was no exception.
After a
perfectly observed minute’s silence in memory of the late,
great Bruce Hay, Boroughmuir were largely frustrated in the
opening period by a well drilled and organised Heriot’s
defence that looked to use new fly-half Murray Strang’s
creativity whenever possible.
With the
Heriot’s wingers rushing up in defence; however, there was
plenty of space behind them, space which Matt Cannon and
Elgan O’Donnell exploited wonderfully with a series of kicks
in behind to pin the hosts back in their own half. And with
Fergus Pringle and Graeme McCallum ever alert to the
opportunity of stealing line-out ball, it was not a bad
tactic at all.
Indeed, it
was from a Pringle steal that ’Muir scored their opening
try. Getting up in front of the Heriot’s jumper, Pringle
tapped the ball down, and a few phases later took a dart at
the line himself, only to be held up over. From the
resultant scrum, Ben Fisher offloaded to Olly Brown and the
number six drove through the opposition to score. O’Donnell
added the conversion from just right of the posts.
The game
became something of a midfield battle after Brown’s score as
defences found themselves firmly on top and gaps were few
and far between. Heriot’s got themselves on the board in
twenty minutes when Strang goaled a penalty from twenty-five
metres, but that was answered three minutes later by a
successful penalty attempt from O’Donnell.
Strang had
a chance to grab his second penalty of the match on the half
hour, but his long range effort struck the outside of the
post. And it was from this that ’Muir took the chance to
grab their second try. After Steven Ruddick had dived on the
loose ball, O’Donnell thumped a monstrous kick upfield which
forced Heriot’s to clear into touch inside their own
twenty-two. The line-out was won and Sean Crombie made a
burst up the touchline, and just as it looked like he would
be knocked out of play, he slipped a pass to prop Nigel
Drapper who crashed over in the corner. O’Donnell’s
conversion attempt drifted just across the face of the
posts.
A third,
and perhaps killer try should have been scored soon
afterwards when Rory Couper set a platform with a charge up
the left wing. However, Fisher and Drapper were both stopped
just inches short of the line and eventually the ball was
coughed up to the home side who managed to clear their lines
well and hold out until the break.
The second
half began where the first had left off for ’Muir, and just
two minutes in they almost scored a sublime try, Cannon’s
cross field kick landing no more than a foot in front of the
desperate Tom Bury and bouncing into touch. They did have
try number three soon though, and it was lock forward
McCallum who landed it.
Couper made
the initial break up the left, and Ruddick almost went over
the line himself with a lovely jinking run. Crucially the
’Muir support was quick to arrive and the ball as recycled
fast, before Cannon flicked an inside pass to McCallum who
barged his way through Kenny Blyth for the score.
O’Donnell’s conversion again went across the face, leaving
Boroughmuir seventeen points clear.
A fourth
score at this point would have sewn the game up in ’Muir’s
favour, but as last week against Watsonians, they let the
opposition back into the match. As the visitors attacked,
looking for that killer score, the ball came loose at the
back of a ruck and Heriot’s centre James Thompson pounced,
racing away eighty metres to score. Ruddick forced him to
touch down wide out, but it mattered not as Strang sailed
his kick between the uprights.
The try
gave Heriot’s a lift and ’Muir a kick in the teeth and swung
the momentum in favour of the home side. For much of the
next twenty minutes they were well on top of the game,
during which time they managed a second try which brought
them to within touching distance of Boroughmuir. After Calum
Cusiter was penalised on the halfway line, Strang’s
thunderous boot put Heriot’s deep into the Boroughmuir
twenty-two. Strang then showed the guile he was famed for in
Glasgow with a lovely break inside Brown and the ball was
moved on to back-rower Garrett Noonan who touched down under
the posts. Strang added the simple conversion.
From having
been well ahead, Boroughmuir were now fighting to keep any
sort of grip on the game, but as has been shown in previous
weeks, this side lacks nothing in the way of spirit. They
gradually edged their way back into the match and eventually
the fourth try came with thirteen minutes remaining. A
brilliantly executed move off first phase ball allowed
Malcolm Clapperton the space he needed to dummy inside
Thompson and crash over the line. O’Donnell’s missed
conversion meant the gap stayed at eight, crucially out of
touch of a single score.
Heriot’s
threw everything they had at ’Muir in an attempt to get
themselves back in the match, but the visitors coped well
and as the clock ticked towards full time, they launched
themselves in attack once more. Angus Martyn was held up
over the line, Peter Eccles sent to the sin bin for a
cynical offence and O’Donnell landed a penalty to inch the
gap wider, all adding to the sense that the game was now
’Muir’s.
That was
confirmed once and for all on the eighty minutes, after
Martyn’s break down the right, Tom Bury threw a perfect pass
inside for Joni Hare who covered the last metres over the
line. O’Donnell added the conversion with the last kick of
the match and Boroughmuir had their five points.
It cannot
be denied that Boroughmuir play high-risk rugby. If and when
they finally lose this season, it will likely be their own
mistakes that bring it upon them. But right now, it is
wonderful to see a group of talented players buying into a
game plan that not only entertains but succeeds, and when
it’s executed right is very difficult to stop. There will,
no doubt, be low points in the campaign, but right now
things could not be going much better for the Meggetland
side.
Boroughmuir: Stephen Ruddick;
Tom Bury, Malcolm Clapperton, Elgan O'Donnell, Rory Couper;
Matt Cannon, Calum Cusiter; Nigel Drapper, Sean Crombie,
Freddie Lait; Graeme McCallum, Fergus Pringle; Olly Brown, Ben Fisher,
Angus Martyn. Subs Used: Cam Ward, Joni Hare, Greg Cottrell
- Not Used: Danny Wright, Andy Hadden |
