Saturday 7th November 2009

Boroughmuir 29 v 18 Stewart's Melville

Reporter: Simon Furnivall

Boroughmuir staged a superb comeback to claim a bonus point victory over struggling Stewart's Melville at Meggetland this afternoon. For the first fifty minutes of a game played at a hundred miles per hour it looked only ever like a win for the visitors. They broke with more purpose in broken field, they tackled with a greater hunger around the fringes and they looked more composed when presented with a chance to score. They did not, in short, look like a side who had claimed only one victory in ten. 

Having claimed their first success of the season against Watsonians last week Graeme Moffat's side were looking to make it two on the bounce and propel themselves back into the mix with those ahead of them in the league. For a long time it looked like they would manage it, but as the pressure came on in the final quarter their defence finally buckled and Boroughmuir ran in three tries which sealed their five point haul.

Boroughmuir had suffered a set back against Melrose last week after they had secured a hard fought victory against Dundee seven days earlier, and they started at an incredible pace, looking to blow the visitors away. Only ninety seconds had been played when Rob Cairns was awarded a try that he was adamant he had scored, but that many in the ground felt there was an element of doubt over.

Both sides had shown a real intent to run the ball hard from the outset, both Tom Bury and Stuart Clark making good breaks, but it was an alert kick from Calum Cusiter which provided the breakthrough. Young 'Muir prop Nick Fraser had gathered loose ball and set it well, and Cusiter spotted that there was no one covering deep for Stewart's Melville. He hooked the ball deep towards the line for Rob Cairns to chase, and the winger dribbled the ball over the line, just touching down before Alex Cox's despairing dive got him to the ball. Ed Mills lined up the conversion from out wide on the right but his effort didn't have enough curl on it.

The visitors were not about to give up that easily, however, and once they had won field position thanks to Bury thumping a kick out on the full, they drove powerfully towards the Boroughmuir line. For much of the game there was little success in either side playing a structured, phase building game, but on this occasion it worked well for Stew Mel, a series of forward drives ending with Phil Hendry powering over on the blindside, though like Mills, Stuart Ker could not add the conversion.

Boroughmuir seemed intent on shooting themselves in the foot at every opportunity, turning over possession so often that they would probably have been better not bothering with it in the first place, and the broken field running of Liam Steele, Ker and Harry Boisseau was causing real problems on the counter attack. It was only a brilliant last ditch tackle from James Fish that prevented Steele from scoring what would have surely been a candidate for try of the season, after he had spotted a miss-match in midfield and arced his run superbly crossfield, only to be dragged down by Fish just short of the line.

Stewart's Melville did win a penalty from the attack, however, and Ker took a pop at goal which he pushed right of the posts, but they grabbed their second try on twenty minutes when Boisseau took a pop pass from flanker Blair Tweedie and cut inside racing in under the posts for a score which Ker converted.

To be honest, the visitors should have capitalised on their dominance further, Boroughmuir had been forced into two changes during the first half, but they cannot blame that for their mistake count which prevented them from gaining any sort of foothold. That they trailed by only four points at the break, substitute Graeme Blackhall having come on a struck a penalty cleanly between the posts, must have given them confidence in their chances of turning things around.

The opening fifteen minutes of the second half followed much the same pattern as the first, with Stew Mel camped in the Boroughmuir half, and the home side's discipline was beginning to test referee Graham Knox's patience. Eventually, after the umpteenth time that 'Muir gave away a penalty at the breakdown, Mike Stalley was the one sent for a ten minute cool down. A few moments later and the visitors won a penalty in front of the Boroughmuir posts which Ker struck through the posts, boosting their gap back to seven points.

It was at this point that the tide began to turn though, as Boroughmuir began to get their hands on the ball a bit more, and they won good field position, but still, time and again, they dropped it when the line came begging, the frustration of the crowd becoming obvious. But with the gap at only one score, all it needed was one moment of brilliance to turn what was now near complete dominance of the game from Boroughmuir into a positive result.

It looked like Tom Bury had provided that moment of magic when, taking a pass from Fish, and storming through the visiting defence, looking for all the world like he was clear to the line before a stunning tackle from Boisseau brought him down. Finally they did bring themselves level, Edinburgh professional David Callam scoring on his return from fourteen months of injury. Ed Mills had made the initial ground, a cutting run in from the left wing, and when Neale Patrick popped a pass up to Callam, the back row forward smashed his way through Liam Steele's tackle and over the line. Blackhall added the conversion to tie the scores.

Stewart's Melville had a moment of hope that they could indeed secure victory when Ker bagged his second penalty to take them ahead again, but two late tries from Mills, the second deep in injury time, made sure that the points stayed at Meggetland. The Munsterman's first came with just two minutes of the eighty remaining, a run up the right wing by Tom Bury drawing the Stew Mel defence before he slipped a pass to Mills and the winger cut inside and raced in under the posts.

Blackhall again converted, as he did with the last kick of the game after Mills had crossed the line again. Stewart's Melville were desperately searching for the score to get themselves back in the game, and from scrappy ball in the visitors' twenty-two, Mills came into the fly-half position, sold the dummy and stepped inside the cover defence, running in under the posts to the delight of his teammates.

This was a massively important game for both sides, neither have been as good as they would have hoped in the first half of the season, but with today's victory Boroughmuir propelled themselves back into the mid-table mix, and seven points ahead of the drop zone, whose clutches had starting looking all too real before the win over Dundee. Now facing the Meggetland side are games against West of Scotland, Kirkcaldy and Selkirk, and though I'm sure that they would all say that they are looking no further than next week's visit to Burnbrae, there will surely be a thought that if they can go on a run then perhaps something can be salvaged from their season after all.

Boroughmuir : Tom Bury: Rob Cairns, Malcolm Clapperton (c), James Fish, Ed Mills: Greg Cottrell, Calum Cusiter: Nick Fraser Shaun McMurchy Freddie Lait: Greig Scott, Fergus Pringle: Mike Stalley, Cammy Orr, Sione Onesi. Subs Used: Bronson Ross, Neale Patrick, Dave Callam, Graeme Blackhall - Not Used: Lynton Brynck

Match Photos