Boroughmuir 10 - 24 Edinburgh Accies: Accies league status

EDINBURGH Accies secured a place in next season’s RBS Premiership and stepped up their bid for a spot in the British & Irish Cup with a bonus-point victory over relegated Boroughmuir, writes Colin Renton at Meggetland.

The fate of the home players was sealed several weeks ago, but they were determined to send departing coach Fergus Pringle on his way with a win. And that objective remained a possibility right to the final whistle, with the clinching try for the visitors coming in injury time.

Accies had most of the early possession but failed to make the breakthrough. And it was the hosts who created the first impression on the scoreboard in 13 minutes when Jordan Edmunds burst down the left flank and offloaded to Rob Cairns, who evaded the final defender as he raced in from 40 metres and dotted down between the sticks to leave Ally Warnock a simple conversion.

Ruaridh Bonner pushed a penalty wide of the target for Accies while at the other end, Ally Davidson came close to extending the lead. However, Accies tightened their grip on the midfield. Bonner despatched a penalty into touch and Callum Reid capped a powerful drive by touching down for the try. Bonner banged over the touchline conversion to restore parity at the interval. The start of the second period mirrored the first with Accies dictating the pace. However, this time they capitalised on their superiority.

Bonner kicked a penalty into touch five metres short of the Boroughmuir line and a surge from the ensuing lineout ended with Robin Snape touching down.

The game continued to flow Accies’ way and they extended their lead when Bonner supplied the scoring pass for Alex Allan to crash over the whitewash. Once again it was unconverted, and the home side ensured the outcome would remain in the balance when Warnock slotted a penalty that cut the deficit to seven points.

Accies were caught between chasing the bonus point try and ensuring they secured the all important win. In the end they achieved both aims. The fourth score was a tribute to the perseverance of Matt Coupar and Iain Berthnussen, whose combined efforts in following up a speculative opportunity were thwarted just short of the line. However, Jonny Adams took the recycled ball and fed Ruaridh Young who finished off the move from close range, with Bonner’s conversion completing the scoring.

Accies coach Simon Cross was delighted with his players. He said: “We needed to fix a few things at half time. We did it the hard way and that’s just what these guys constantly do – they do things the hard way. But they muscled it out in the end.”