Currie 20 - 37 Gala: Gala’s power too much for Currie

GALA remain hard on the heels of league leaders Ayr after an accomplished and convincing win that had third-placed Currie chasing shadows by the end.

SCORERS:

Currie – Try: Weston. Pens: Forbes (5).

Gala – Tries: George Graham, Gary Graham, Penalty. Cons: Millar (2). Pens: Millar (6).

The try count was three to one against Currie, the converted penalty count was six to five against Currie and the yellow card count also three to one against Currie.

The figures can’t tell the whole story but they hint at how Gala were mostly in control, choosing to play into the strong wind for the first half, while Currie were always scrambling to stay with the pace.

It was a curiously disjointed game that was regularly knocked off kilter by erratic refereeing decisions and, at one stage, threatened to turn nasty and spiral out of control altogether as brawls broke out like a rash all over the pitch.

Currie coach Ally Donaldson said: “Gala did the basics really well. Their set piece was excellent, they defended well. They stopped us getting any really rhythm into our play. The three yellow cards we got were disappointing but you have to deal with these things.”

If the first half was mainly a kicking contest between Gala stand-off Lee Millar and Currie full back Jamie Forbes as the lead changed hands five times. It was also a first taste of Scottish rugby for Zimbabwean sevens international Gerald Sibanda.

He only got the ball twice, but each time was a touch of class. The first episode saw him thread his way through a clutter of players for 40 metres; the second saw him hare down the right wing before providing the scoring pass for Gala’s first try by scrum-half George Graham. He was promising more great things when, after 25 minutes, he injured his shoulder in a seemingly innocuous tumble to the ground and was packed off to hospital.

Sibanda’s contribution turned out to be a sideshow alongside the main event which centred on the breakdown where spoiling tactics by both teams didn’t make it easy for referee Gary Gordon. The first yellow card came just before half-time when Currie hooker Ross Merrilees went into the bin and, though a couple of Gala players might easily have followed him, it was team-mate Mike Entwhistle who was singled out for the same treatment after the restart.

The penalties continued to fly over and Millar’s sixth, the easiest of the lot, made the score 15-23. When Currie kicked off, Gala collected the ball and tried to run it out of their own 22, Samoan lock Opeta Palepoi flicking a pass between his legs to keep the ball alive in a move that opened up a channel for Sibanda’s replacement, Grant Sommerville. He was tackled but substitute back-row Craig Keddie took the off-load and looked to be going under the posts until he was chopped down metres short.

It was only a temporary reprieve for Currie, however, and Gala turned on the power at the scrum to go for the push-over and when the Currie front row disintegrated on the line, the referee added insult to injury by yellow carding Fergus Scott for standing up.

The penalty try was harsh on Currie, the sin binning even harsher but Millar’s conversion put Gala three scores clear and effectively ended the game as a contest. There was still time for another couple of tries to be scored. Currie No 8 Ross Weston barged over in the corner but, despite losing George Graham to a yellow card, flanker Gary Graham reacted picked up a loose ball and run unchallenged through one of the gaping holes that were beginning to open up in the Currie defence. Millar finished the job with a conversion that took his personal points total to 22.

Gala coach George Graham said: “We pretty much outplayed them in every department. Our scrum was phenomenal. Our lineout worked effectively. We are definitely getting back to where we were last season when we had a really good defence. There are very few teams that will come to Malleny Park and do what we just did to Currie and that is very satisfying.”

Currie: J Forbes; A Hinds, J Johnstone, S James, A Whittingham; A Binikos, R Snedden; F Watt, R Merrilees, A Hamilton, G Temple, S Marcell, M Cairns, M Peacock, R Weston. Subs: F Scott, J Cox, F Strachan, J Gray, M Entwhistle.

Gala: A Mclean; G Sibanda, C Auld, C Borthwick, C Robertson; L Millar, G Graham; L Pettie, C MacIntosh, E McQuillin, O Palepoi, C Weir, G Graham, G Bryce, E Dods. Subs: R Anderson, S Cairns, C Keddie, G Sommerville, J King.

Referee: G Gordon.