West of Scotland 38 - 38 Currie: Youthful West pay for complacency as Currie snatch a draw

WITH four games to go before the split and the pressure intensifying, this result is an all-round warning - to the championship flag contenders that West must face in this period, to the league's struggling sides, and to West themselves.

In short, nobody can be sure just how this side are going to play. As coach Keith Robertson acknowledged: "Once again this team showed how young they are. Currie, 28-5 behind at the turn, were chasing the game yet we still wanted to play rugby."

It looked from the stand that having got back on track of late with two wins, Currie lacked early focus.

With the defending champions knocked back in the tackle, and possession turned over as a result, it was West who were running in the scores through Jonathan Curteis, Calum McKenzie and Dave Young, with impressive stand-off Ally Stevenson notching two conversions and three penalties.

The third quarter called for either West to control play or Currie to fight back. It was the latter option which came to pass, with the home lead cut to 28-24, Currie grabbing a try bonus.

West, however, re-opened the gap with a penalty by Stevenson. who then sliced through to put Kyle Matheson under the posts. Although Currie added two more tries in the dramatic closing stages to ensure three points, it was West pressing at the end, Stevenson closing the game with a failed drop goal.

Visiting coach Ally Donaldson said: "There are some people in the dressing room who are disappointed with how they played today."

"Obviously we showed a lot of character to come back but there were too many one-on-one defensive errors.

"The guys know what was wrong and they'll fix it for next week (at home to Watsonians]."

Of his young charges, Robertson added: "I'm getting the work rate and the intensity I've demanded. We're just going to go for it in the games remaining until the split."

Scorers: West: Tries: Curteis, McKenzie, Young, Matheson. Cons: Stevenson 3. Pen: Stevenson 4. Currie: Tries: Wilson (2), Scott, Smith, Johnstone, Cox. Cons: Smith 4.

West of Scotland: M Sim; J Curteis, R Dalgleish, K Matheson, C McKenzie; A Stevenson, M McConnell; E McLaren, D McKenna, C Marshall, M Jenkinson, R McAlpine, D Young, D McFarlane, J Walker.Subs used: I Henderson, S Carmichael, G Fisken, A McCall Hagen, C Davis.

Currie: J Smith; A Whittingham, J Johnston, A MacMahon, D Fife; M Scott, A Binikos; N Scobie, F Scott, R Merrilees, R Wilson, G Temple, M Cairns, M Entwhistle, R Weston. Subs used: S Simonsen, J Cox, M Blair, R Snedden.

Referee: D Walker (Irvine).