Watsonians 7 - 13 West of Scotland: Breckenridge is buoyed as West add to fine run of form

Published on Sunday 22 November 2009 23:18

WEST of Scotland backs coach George Breckenridge heaped praise on his side after they played the conditions better to see off Watsonians on Saturday and collect their third win on the trot.

The 13-7 Scottish Hydro Premier One victory at Myreside followed hot on the heels of triumphs over Heriot's and Boroughmuir and has pushed West up to seventh place, six points clear of the drop zone.

Watsonians on the other hand have now gone seven matches without a win to sit second bottom and they have some serious soul searching to do ahead of their next match in a fortnight.

Breckenridge said: "It was a crucial game for both sides and I thought we fronted up really well and played some smart rugby. We have now taken 14 points from a possible 15 and the guys are doing all that is being asked of them currently."

While the West pack, marshalled superbly by hooker Gordon Bulloch and skipper David Young, will rightly take the plaudits for setting up this win on a wet and windy day in the capital the influence of teenage scrum-half Murray McConnell cannot by underestimated.

The schoolboy has shown composure beyond his years this season and on Saturday he was on hand to score the game's first try in the 39th minute to give the visitors a 7-0 lead at the break. The West forwards put in some great groundwork to allow the Scotland Under-18 squad member to pick up the ball at the base of a ruck and dive gleefully over the line.

Watsonians current bad luck had been shown up perfectly eight minutes before that score. Stand-off Mike Ker had charged down a McConnell kick and kicked it along the ground over the West try line. It looked to be a certain try only for a defender to put Ker off as he dived on the ball, knocking it on as a result. The lead was extended to 10-0 after the interval before 'Sonians showed a glimpse of what they are capable of with a well-worked try from winger Max Learmonth to cut the deficit to three points after 54 minutes.

West were the more composed team in the last quarter though and after full-back Michael Sim had missed a relatively simple penalty in the 74th minute he managed to bang one over in the dying seconds to see them home to a well deserved – and crucial – four points. As well as those already mentioned, second-row Rob Harley performed well for West while for 'Sonians one bright spark on a gloomy day was the cameo appearance by replacement scrum-half Pierre Layfayeedney.

Scorers: Watsonians: Try: Learmonth. Con: Ker. West of Scotland: Try: McConnell. Pens: Sim 2. Con: Sim.

Watsonians: N Montgomery; G Somerville, D Brown, C Sorbie, M Learmonth; M Ker, J Blackwood; D O'Connell, N Tunnah, G Holmes, T Weizman, M Rennie, R Dean, J Pelter, H Grant. Subs used: G Walsh, S Laird, P Layfayeedney, S Trotter.

West of Scotland: M Sim; B Wright, P Murchie, J Kerr, G Dempsey; C Thwaites, M McConnell; E McLaren, G Bulloch, R Kelso, G Perrett, R Harley, A Kennedy, J Walker, D Young. Subs used: C Johnston, D McFarlane.

Referee: A McPherson.