Boroughmuir 15 - 18 Currie

WATCHING Boroughmuir regularly must be like watching Scotland. They are ambitious, try things, but repeatedly find ways to squander hard-won scoring chances.

That was certainly the case in this enthralling clash, which ended with Currie as the capital leaders in this season’s RBS Premiership 1 title chase. The visitors scored the only two tries and carried the greater attacking threat in the backs, but the effort of the young Boroughmuir pack deserved more than a losing bonus point.

That said, the home forwards must be ruing their lack of control when, in the dying minutes, they heaved the Currie eight over their own line from a five-metre scrum, but failed to get the touchdown.

Five, indeed an almost certain seven points gone and a possible four-points lead became the eventual three-points defeat.

“Small things cost us,” said a frustrated Fergus Pringle at the end.

The ’Muir coach was left to bemoan the two defensive errors which cost them the tries – that knock-on at the scrum and a couple of other wrong options, before adding: “We move on. The young forwards showed great intensity, it was a compelling game, but we should have won it.”

Opposite number Ally Donaldson felt it had been a “really tough” 80 minutes and he praised the character his players showed in holding on for the win.

“We started well,” he said, “then got sloppy but we toughed it out – and had to – to beat a good Boroughmuir team,” he added. Donaldson was unhappy with having what seemed from the sidelines to be two tries disallowed by referee Andrew McMenemy, who didn’t impress either camp.

Currie’s ability to strike from distance was shown in their fifth minute opener, late call-up Alan Whittingham’s 65-metre canter up the left creating a position from which, five phases later, full-back Jamie Forbes ran a great support line to gather Andrew Binikos’s off-load and score between the posts.

Ally Warnock, whose distribution from hand never matched his excellent place or field position kicking, opened Currie’s account in 15 minutes but, four minutes later, his failure to knock a loose ball into touch-in-goal was penalised when the alert Barry Mansfield swooped for an unconverted try.

The work of the home pack twice forced Currie to concede kickable penalties and, at half-time, the visitors held a narrow three-point lead after Warnock punished both offences.

With Boroughmuir grabbing the second-half initiative, Warnock squared matters in 47 minutes, only for ruck offside to let Forbes ease Currie back ahead six minutes later.

But, at the hour, Warnock’s fifth successful penalty had tied things up again, after Currie’s Mark Cairns was yellow-carded.

The final quarter was frenetic, with controversy rearing its head in 64 minutes when ’Muir mis-handling in the Currie 22 saw the visitors break out with a storming kick and chase which ended with Mansfield apparently touching down, but Mr McMenemy was arguably the only person in the ground who saw the knock-on he called to disallow the try.

Forbes came close twice, from more than 40 metres, before, ten minutes from time, with Harry Leonard yellow-carded, he slotted the winning penalty from just shy of the ’Muir ten-metres line and, in spite of a frantic finale from a Sep Visser-inspired ’Muir, or maybe because of that knock-on in-goal after their huge scrummage surge, Currie survived to take the four points.

Scorers: Boroughmuir – Pens: Warnock (5). Currie – Tries: Forbes, Mansfield; Cons: Forbes; Pens: Forbes (2).

Boroughmuir: Visser; Bradford, Leonard, Wilson, Webster; Warnock, Johnson; Fraser, Crombie, Blair, Harvey, Davidson, Swanson, Rose, Moody. Replacements: McIntosh, Latta, Scott, Rodger, Blackhall.

Currie: Forbes; Mansfield, Fife, McMahon, Whittingham; Binikos, Snedden; Cox, Scott, Phillips, Best, Temple, Burton, Entwhistle, Weston. Replacements: Elmslie, Merrilees, Marcell, Cairns, Downie.

Referee: A McMenemy.