Currie 23 - 22 Watsonians: Another blow for '˜Sonians

For the second successive week, Watsonians suffered an agonising defeat, again succumbing to a late penalty that keeps Currie in the hunt for a play-off spot.

Currie tryscorer Ratu Tagive is tackled by Watsonians Jack Ferguson. Photograph: Ian Rutherford

However, even the most myopic of the home supporters would be forced to admit that the visitors, who dominated the second half, did enough to win.

“That’s two weeks in a row, two real sickeners”, said Watsonians coach Marcus Di Rollo who was left bemoaning another slow start. “When we get in to it we are a good side and we can probably put anyone under, but we need to focus on the first 10-15 minutes.”

Although the teams started the day in fifth and sixth places respectively, Currie were looking up the way while the focus for their opponents was on escaping a relegation battle.

The hosts opened the scoring with a penalty by Rory Clegg in three minutes and, after a spell on defensive chores as Watsonians battered unsuccessfully at the home line, the Glasgow Warriors stand-off doubled the tally with a second kick.

His next contribution was as a try creator when he delivered a perfectly weighted pass over the heads of two Watsonians defenders to leave Ben Robbins a stroll to the line. Clegg was on target with the conversion.

The hosts extended their lead when his Glasgow Warriors team mate Ratu Tagive sprinted over and Clegg again converted.

Watsonians may not have been winning matches recently, but their spirit has never been in doubt and they battled their way back into the match with two tries before the break. The first came from dynamic hooker Sean Crombie who stretched over despite the attentions of Currie defender Luke Crosbie, and the second in injury time was a self-converted effort by Andrew Chalmers who capped a slick handling move when he dotted down in the corner for a 20-12 interval score line.

The visitors resumed where they had left off and their pressure yielded a penalty, which Chalmers stroked over. And Watsonians took the lead for the first time after 49 minutes when Calum Eastwood followed up a series of assaults on the home line to plunge over, Chalmers added the conversion to give his side a two point advantage.

Having rarely ventured into opposition territory in the second half, Currie earned a penalty with five minutes to play, Clegg made a clean contact but his long-range effort drifted wide. However, three minutes later he was presented with a more straightforward opportunity and this time he made no mistake.

“That was the definition of winning ugly”, said a relieved Currie captain Ross Wwston. “There were so many errors. All credit to Watsonians. I thought they probably deserved the win.”