This game started inauspiciously for
Boroughmuir as they were made to wait almost 10 minutes in
freezing conditions before their hosts made it on to the
pitch. In the end the referee went looking for them and the
game got underway.
After a bright start playing into the wind
'Muir were caught offside on their own 10 metre line and
Watsonians kicked the penalty to edge ahead by 3 - 0.
Pouring rain and bitter cold put a dampener
on the affair and neither team were able to retain
possession for long. 'Muir looked the more creative behind
the scrum but were too often guilty of trying to over
complicate matters on a day when simple rugby was called
for. Long passes and subtle flicks were never going to work
in the conditions but 'Muir persisted to try to force things
and let Watsonians off the hook.
Neither lineout was functioning well and
there was some surprise when, having been awarded a penalty
from a scrum close to the Watsons line, 'Muir chose to kick
for touch rather than set the scrum again to maintain the
pressure. When Neil Irving tapped the ball back over Scott
Richards' head and the scrum half had to scamper back to the
22 in an attempt to regain possession there was a feeling
amongst the hardy spectators that this might not be 'Muir's
day.
Apart form their early penalty the hosts
showed little promise in the first period and had their No.8
sent to cool his heels for 10 minutes. 'Muir were able to
close out the half just one score behind.
The
early part of the second half saw a repeat of the first 40
with 'Muir trying to force the pace and Watsonians playing
solid and simple rugby. started well enough but it was
Watsonians who scored first. Things looked bleak when 'Muir
were awarded a penalty on the exact spot where Watsons had
kicked theirs in the first half but the award was reversed
when Greig Scott was sent to the bin for foul play.
The
Myreside men soon stretched their lead with a long range
penalty and held the advantage as the game entered its final
quarter.. Such a slender home lead was always vulnerable and
as the Twos continued to exert pressure they became more
coherent and confident. After some fine probing kicks frm
'Muir the visitors pinned Watsonians back. One kick-ahead
fell perfectly, inches short of the Watsonians line. The
defender touched down, trying to con the ref, however it
didn't work and the 2nd XV had a five metre scrum close to
the home posts.
The
ball won, Andy Knight fed inside to Kevin Brown on the
charge and he dived over for the only try of the match.
Graeme Blackhall converted to edge 'Muir ahead 6 - 7. This
was Kevin Brown's second try for the Twos, having scored the
week before against Stirling.
Although 'Muir had the upper hand play continued to be
scrappy and they were unable to finish their opponents
off.. Gradually, Watsonians fought their way back into the
game and they pushed penalty after penalty into the corners
to try to regain the lead. Solid defence held them out and
'Muir survived a goal attempt which was well struck but was
pushed right of our posts. 'Muir finished the game on the
attack again and in stoppage time, a penalty converted by
Blackhall sealed the win 10 - 6.
The
conditions were responsible for some of our shortcomings on
the day but not for two issues that must be addressed. The
lineouts didn't function well as a whole and some poor
first-up tackling in the backs allowed the opposition to
gain momentum. Some will claim that we need to work on our
scrummaging too. We have to look to improve now as a team
and as individuals.
Team
personnel is relatively settled and we can now push on to be
better. It was a very good victory and completes our wins
against those who beat us early in the season. This now
means we have beaten every team in our league but do need to
continue winning and have to hope for some slip-ups by
Stirling, Heriot's and Warsonians.
