DRAMA all the way as Currie came from behind to clinch a vital win over their Edinburgh rivals with the final kick of the game. With time up on the clock and the scores tied, Alex Harley, the home fly-half, was given a chance at glory and, just as he had been doing all evening, he slotted the penalty shot between the posts.
The way the players and crowd erupted, you might have thought they had just won the Premiership title again. They hadn’t, but in terms of the season, which started so badly, this is exactly the sort of result that is bound to see confidence soar and possibly spark a renewed assault on a play-off place.
Coach Mark Cairns admitted even he had started to have some doubts about the team’s ability to climb into the top echelons of the table. Not now. “That’s our continued goal, to get into that top four. When you’re in the play-offs, like we did from third spot last year, you never know,” he said.
“I’m really happy with how we matched and beat a former Super6 team. I think we should be in the mix when it comes to these games anyway, but the way we started the season was pretty disappointing. We’ve turned a corner now, but we’ve got to keep hold of that momentum and take it into next week.”
The impressive thing about Currie was that they came through despite being pummelled for most of the first half and being seven points behind early in the second half in a game where the weather meant scores were always going to be hard to come by.
“In the second half, we definitely prioritised possession. They were giving away quite a lot of penalties because of the high tackles. I think they’re a timing-the-tackle team, which means they’re going to target higher and try to stop the ball. We knew that, and we were getting rewarded for just keeping possession.
“We got opportunities, but I still think we weren’t that efficient in scoring. We had opportunities, but when it counted at the end, we got the points.”
He was right about the high tackles, a point Davey Wilson, the Watsonians coach, was quick to pick up on. There was a huge penalty count, with tackling technique accounting for most of them. Add three yellow cards for tackles shared between the teams, plus one for technical offences, and it was a stop-start match.
“What a lot of sides are really struggling to comprehend at the moment is the penalties for tackle height,” he said. “I understand that we’re looking to promote low tackles, but when you’re getting the second tackler coming in and a last-second action from the ball carrier, it becomes very difficult for that second assist to put in something that’s perceived as being legal.
“The number of penalties tonight was absurd. Talking to the referees, they’re agreeing with us, but they’re being told that ‘this is how you must referee it’. For me, it’s more a case of ‘can we not get some dialogue here?’ I think that’s killing the game from an entertainment point of view.”
Whilst suggesting that he thought a draw would have been a fairer result, he acknowledged that his side had played a large part in their own downfall. “No excuses. We came to a hostile environment, and our set-piece didn’t function as well as it has done. Our error count was unfortunate, and I think ultimately the penalties essentially undid us. We just have to lick our wounds and front up next week.”
The rain that had been teeming down from long before kick-off made handling tricky for both sides, and they both struggled to adjust in the early exchanges. Watsonians enjoyed most of the early pressure but struggled to convert it into points, not helped by Jason Baggott, moved to full-back for this game, missing a long-range penalty after two attempts at mauling their way to the line had ended unsuccessfully.
When Currie did break the siege, only a foot in touch prevented wing Iain Sim from breaking the deadlock. As the penalty count against Currie mounted, however, Watsonians were soon back at the other end and facing 14 men after prop Thomas Jeffrey was sin-binned for one team offence too many.
Watsonians still couldn’t take advantage, the slippery ball again coming loose at the wrong time, and it was the home side who got on the scoreboard first as Alex Harley, the fly-half, slotted his first penalty shot at goal.
All season, Currie have struggled with the kick-off after they have scored, and this flaw came back to bite them as they put themselves straight back under pressure. Watsonians got another chance to maul their way to the line and this time Neil Irvine Hess, the No.8, got himself in position to break off the back and crash over, with Baggott converting.
There was still plenty of time for another score in the first half, but in conditions like this, fluent rugby was at a premium and neither side could manage it for long enough to get back over the line – a poor return for Watsonians, who had had most of the pressure and territory. The only action of note was Luis Ball, the lock, getting binned for a high tackle just before the break.
It didn’t make much difference as Watsonians got back into the home 22 after Currie failed to deal with a towering up-and-under that got lost in the lights, and another high tackle earned Baggott his second penalty shot at goal. This time, he made no mistake.
It seemed to rejuvenate Currie, who charged their way upfield with centres DJ Innes and Ryan Southern leading the way. They had a couple of shots at the try-line before replacement wing Kerr Johnston was held inches short on an offload from Innes, and scrum-half Gregor Christie was on hand to complete the job. With Harley converting, it was back to level pegging.
Soon the home side were in front for the first time as they again pummelled the visitors’ line and another high tackle gave Harley a penalty shot to edge his side in front, the ball sailing just inside the left upright.
It didn’t last. A second sin-bin, this time for skipper Charlie Brett, cut the home side to 14 men and minutes later Baggott levelled the scores with his second penalty.
As the tension grew, discipline fell, as both sides battled for the winning score. By now, though, Watsonians were the ones giving away penalties, handing Harley that final chance and setting the home crowd alight as the ball went over.
This match report has been written by Lewis Stuart of The Offside Line - please visit their website here: https://www.theoffsideline.com/
