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There was a sense at full time in today’s
game that it had to happen sooner or later. The unbeaten
season has been all that many outside the club have been
talking about, and as scrum half Calum Cusiter said in the
aftermath of defeat, “maybe that’s the monkey off our back”.
That is not to say, of course, that ’Muir were in any way
relieved by their loss at Myreside. Defeat to their close
rivals will be stinging more than the cold weather this
evening and they will be hoping the next week passes quickly
so that they can get back out onto the field and put things
right against Heriot’s.
Hopefully conditions next week will be
considerably better than they were today. The game started
amidst rain and a strong wind and ended in snow so heavy
that simply identifying the players from the stands was made
somewhat difficult. With two sides who possess the talent
and desire to play open, flowing rugby, it was perhaps
always the case that they were going to struggle and the
mistake count from both was unusually high.
The President’s message in the programme
before the match spoke of a desire to ensure that ’Muir
would not leave with their unbeaten record intact, and the
home players started in a fashion that showed they held the
same intent. Twice in the early moments Mala Mailo broke
through the Boroughmuir defence; the first leading to a
successful penalty from Andrew Skeen, the second a try from
former ’Muir centre Dougie Brown. Skeen converted Brown’s
try and their whirlwind start had given them a ten point
lead.
It can be difficult to claw your way back
from such a start in the best of conditions, but the need to
now exert control over the match in such awful weather only
added to the size of task Boroughmuir had in front of them.
Their forward strength has been one of the most impressive
things about the Meggetland side this season, however, and
they went about proving that and forcing their way back into
contention.
They were helped along the way by the nuclear
powered kicking of Stephen Ruddick. Territorial advantage
was always going to be critical, and time after time the
’Muir full back boomed kicks deep into the Watsonians half,
providing his team the perfect platform from which to
attack. By half time they had reduced the gap by six, Elgan
O’Donnell twice on target after the home side had infringed.
Both sides spent ten minutes with fourteen men though,
Malcolm Clapperton the first to incur referee Graham Knox’s
wrath when he vehemently and vocally disagreed with a
decision which went against him. Before long Watsonians’
Bernie Hennessey joined him on the sidelines when he
cynically killed the ball deep in his own twenty-two.
With the weather worsening half time came and
went with ’Muir perhaps having played more of the rugby but
Watsons being the more clinical. An early penalty,
O’Donnell’s third, reduced the gap to just a single point
after the teams had switched ends and as the pressure ramped
up on the hosts, ’Muir looked the more likely to claim
victory.
Just as they got themselves into that
position, however, they suffered a fatal blow. A ball
spilled in the ’Muir midfield was fly-hacked by Watsonians
deep into the twenty-two. Neither Rory Couper nor Cam Ward
were able to control the slippery ball under pressure,
Watsons won it back and Steve Lawrie lurked on the right
wing to finish the overlap with a score. Skeen converted
well from out wide and from having been well on the
defensive, the home side were suddenly eight points clear.
In truth Boroughmuir never really recovered
from that blow. They might point to Ben Fisher apparently
touching down only to be judged held up over the line or the
stats that would show they held the advantage in both
territory and possession as the clock ticked down. But the
truth is that credit must go to Watsonians. They defended
wonderfully well and never looked like conceding the try
that ’Muir desperately needed.
When looking back on this season, the defeat
today may not have the most significance of any result this
season – though that will only be the case if winning ways
are returned to next week. Boroughmuir still hold a nineteen
point advantage over Ayr and still must be clear favourites
to clinch the league title. Perhaps with the pressure of
remaining unbeaten lifted they will be able to play more
freely in the remaining games, hopefully to ensure that the
SHE Premiership title rests at Meggetland next summer.
Boroughmuir: Stephen Ruddick;
Tom Bury, Malcolm Clapperton, Elgan O'Donnell, Rory Couper;
Matt Cannon, Calum Cusiter; Freddie Lait, Sean Crombie,
Cam Ward; Stuart Waddell, Fergus Pringle; Olly Brown, Ben Fisher,
Angus Martyn. Subs Used Conor Costigan, Euan Matheson, Greg Cottrell, Andy Hadden.
Not Used: Davie Cunningham |
