NATIONAL LEAGUE 1
SATURDAY 9th NOVEMBER 2024
GHA 20 BOROUGHMUIR 17
By CHRIS NAIRN
Head Coach Calum intimated to me, as I inspected the playing surface before the match on Saturday that this was a perfect November day to play rugby. Certainly, the pitch was in smashing condition with little wind despite a slight chill in the air. The overcast sky suggested that the floodlights would be an important asset in this match. Braidholm had once again held a very successful Annual Fireworks Display during the week the direct result of the skill, dedication, planning and execution of Messrs Fairbairn, Marshall and Robin and others. It was a very busy clubhouse with matches for the 1XV and 2XV and a Rangi Jericevich inspired former players’ lunch. This sold-out event brought legends of the past and near past home to Braidholm and later swelled the ranks of the home support. The club is delighted to see Lochlan Hodge and Ben Curtis called up to the national U20 squad and we wish them every success. Ross Miller the club videographer, was once again filming the match live and informed me that over 400 people had viewed the live match against Biggar. A minute silence for Remembrance Sunday was immaculately observed.
Amidst all this activity Boroughmuir arrived determined to gain revenge for the opening Saturday defeat to GHA at the start of the season. The visitors spent a considerable time on their preparations involving set piece rehearsal and whole team moves mixed in with a very thorough warm up regime. The home side went through a pattern of set group skills and whole team simulations as they too went through warm up exercises under the supervision of the coaching team.
A very healthy crowd filled the stand and environs as the match approached. This was the first Saturday of the second phase of matches and was the penultimate home match before the Christmas break. All the sides in the league have played GHA and it will be interesting to see how each of the sides adopts their tactics to try and thwart the progress of the Braidholm side. The teams entered the arena and to the dismay of the GHA media team it was obvious that numbers (and in one case no number!) did not correspond to our Programme notes and pre match checks with the visitors had not mentioned any number changes. Apologies to our Edinburgh friends if there is misidentification as a result.
The home side kicked off with a high ball into the Boroughmuir ranks only to see the ball won by Ben Curtis and with Messrs Lonergan, MacFarlane and Nolan moving the ball through hands as Boroughmuir were put on the backfoot. As progress was held up inside the visitors twenty-two metre area, Michael Fox (as he was to do all afternoon) broke into space and drove at the Boroughmuir defence. The ball was recycled and seemed to spill only for the quick-thinking Glen Little to follow the ball to the line, gather and go over and score. The score after just over a minute was GHA 5 BOROUGHMUIR 0. Gregor Drummond just failed to convert the try.
The visitors took the match straight to GHA from the restart and won a penalty at the ten metre line, which was promptly kicked to touch inside the GHA twenty-two. The visitors won the lineout and as the subsequent drive was stymied by GHA defence, the ball went forward, and the resulting scrum was an excellent position for Boroughmuir to attack. A solid scrum allowed the home side to move the ball and Ben Curtis took the immediate pressure off GHA by moving play to their ten metre line. As we passed ten minutes both sides attempted to make forays into their opponents half but mis passes, spills and knock-ons broke any momentum that they were trying to build. There seemed a deal of nervous tension on the pitch even this early in the match with both sides trying to force passes and not reading the intentions of teammates. Near the fifteenth minute mark, Boroughmuir made a huge break from halfway far into the GHA half as the home side desperately back pedalled to prevent a score. The home side bundled the ball into touch and the resulting lineout allowed the visitors to take and drive and go over and score. The conversion failed and the score after sixteen minutes was now: GHA 5 BOROUGHMUIR 5.
Both sides were struggling to find their rhythm and a deal of frustration could be observed as a pattern of stop start infected the play. GHA began to give away a high number of penalties from this point which broke any attempt to build momentum. A particular concern was the number of penalties in this match the home side conceded for being offside which perhaps suggested that there was a lack of awareness amongst the home players. Caleb Thomson made a number of drives into the heart of the GHA defence before the ball was recycled to allow Messrs Cannie and Swan to probe and test the GHA defensive strengths. As we passed the twentieth minute mark good work by the home side was let down again by the concession of a penalty which stopped any momentum being built. To add to the stop start nature of this match a promising move at halfway by Messrs McCutcheon and Nolan came to a halt as a lovely pass to the onward racing Ross Nolan resulted in a serious looking injury. The home side attempted to rally their resolve and take the game into the Boroughmuir half. Accurate defensive tackling by the visitors blunted repeated attacks by the home side. There was a distinct lack of cohesion about the home side forays. Players tended to become isolated or attack in small units rather than the whole team approach, which has brought such success this season. This allowed the visitors to prevent GHA progress and indeed allowed Boroughmuir on a number of occasions to win the ball in turn over and launch their own attack. The Edinburgh side were aligning their backs very steeply which meant that they could, should passes prove effective, outflank the home defence which seemed to be moving closer together. As we reached the interval neither side was able to establish any form of dominance at all. It had been a poor half of disjointed rugby with a high degree of nervousness evident from both sides. A curious listlessness seemed to have overtaken the home side who had really struggled to play to their undoubted strengths. Boroughmuir equally seemed to lack cohesion and were also guilty of mistakes resulting in knock-ons, spilled passes and misdirection of moves. The large crowd hoped for better fare after the interval.
The visitors started the second half, and the home side gathered the ball and cleared up to the ten metre area. Immediately Boroughmuir seemed to increase their pace and some good work by Cameron Hogg and Sam Webb necessitated effective defensive tackling from the home side as the visitors moved far into the GHA half. As we moved past the forty third minute, some bright attacking play by the visitors was matched by GHA negating the immediate danger and mounting a counter offensive through the driving prowess of Michael Fox with Luke McCutcheon – a more than willing assistant- as they drove into the Boroughmuir half. GHA continued to put pressure on the visitors with a far more cohesive and threatening approach in Boroughmuir territory. Excellent linked work by Messrs McCutcheon, Fox, Lonergan, Goudie and the impressive Plumridge forced the Edinburgh side back into their own twenty metre area. As GHA pressed the visitors and in return the visitors held firm, the superb skills of quick-thinking Andrew Goudie sent a long accurate pass to Glen Little who took the ball and shot over the line to the acclaim of the home support. The try was converted by a smashing kick from Gregor Drummond and the score was after fifty minutes: GHA 12 BOROUGHMUIR 5. This one move suggested that the home side were making every effort to find their rhythm in this half.
The visitors were clearly disappointed at going behind and took the match straight back to GHA. The whole ground had been lifted by the previous minutes of positive rugby from both sides and it looked like an exciting half was developing. Just as both sides seemed to be finding some consistency of approach, injuries and stoppages and penalties conceded threatened to break the momentum that both sides were trying very hard to create. Amidst several minutes of stop start rugby, Lochlan Hodge was yellow carded. The visitors stung by the loss of points redoubled their efforts and with some lovely wide passing, interlaced with driving recycled progress, forced the home side back into their five metre area. Ferocious defensive tackling seemed to have blunted the visitors, but Boroughmuir shifted the emphasis of the drive slightly which allowed them to go over and score to deserved acclaim from the travelling support. The conversion was missed and the score after sixty minutes was: GHA 12 BOROUGHMUIR 10.
Hectic attempts by both sides to achieve dominance featured in the next minutes. Whilst the execution of play by both sides was still not of their own highest standard, there was a realisation in the stands and environs that both these sides were giving their all in this half to win the match and that frankly it was still a very keenly contested match with the outcome far from certain. In desperate defence as we reached the seventieth minute the home side conceded a penalty inside their half. This was heartbreaking for the home side who had worked tremendously to cut down a very promising Boroughmuir attack. The visitors took a moment to gather themselves and elected to kick to the corner. Despite fantastic efforts to prevent the taken line out ball GHA conceded the score to an excellent and well delivered drive by the visitors. A difficult conversion on what was not a great day for goal kicking sailed through the posts to huge cheers and celebrations from the Edinburgh faithful. The score after seventy-four minutes was now: GHA 12 BOROUGHMUIR 17.
What had been a lack lustre first half was but a memory as the home side harnessed some impressive, concerted pressure on the visitors from the restart. As GHA looked for a way through a determined Boroughmuir defence, the visitors conceded a penalty deep in their own half. Calm, clear decision making allowed the home side to kick to the corner. To huge roars of encouragement, the home side took the lineout and drove at the visitors who seemed to have blocked the GHA drive. Andrew Goudie with a calm assurance took a pass and again fired a beautifully weighted pass to Glen Little who flew over to score as the Braidholm ground erupted. The conversion attempt came back off the upright and the score was now with seventy-seven minutes gone: GHA 17 BOROUGHMUIR 17.
Frantic action in the last few minutes saw a huge surge by GHA into the Boroughmuir half as their players desperately tried to stem the advances of a far more confident GHA side. The home side were awarded a penalty inside the Boroughmuir twenty-two metre area and the home side, as time began to run out , decided to run the penalty and fabulous defence by Boroughmuir seemed to have prevented a score but as the ball moved across the pitch, a desperate high tackle had given a penalty to the home side. Gregor “the hammer” Drummond was the epitome of cool as he went through his preparation before converting the penalty to be greeted by wild celebrations by the home support. The match finished GHA 20 BOROUGHMUIR 17.
The last ten minutes of this match had been gripping. It took huge mental resolve by the home side to overcome their limited form on the day and the concession of the lead so near the end of the match to win this match. Clearly there will be an opportunity to examine the performance from the players who gave their all despite operating by their standards below their established form. Boroughmuir understandably were shattered at the end of the match. They felt that they had worked very hard to get themselves into a winning position only to lose at the very last moment. Coach Calum felt that this victory may prove to be a very important win at the end of this season.
BOROUGHMUIR :C.RAMM A.HOSKIN J.EDMUNDS C.HOGG S.WEBB G.CANNIE R.SWAN C.SMITH T.FRANCOMBE L. ALESSANDRI J.LISHMAN S.HORN N.SMITH S.WEBSTER H.JACKAMAN D. McKINSTRAY J.ROBERSTON L.HABIB J.HAMILTON C.THOMSON
GHA :G.DRUMMOND R.NOLAN C.LONERGAN M.MacFARLANE G.LITTLE A.GOUDIE B.CURTIS S.COLLINS A.BYRNE M.FOX A.KERR J.FALLS S.PLUMRIDGE D.EWING L.McCUTCHEON L.HODGE S.CALLAGHAN J.McENTEGART G.BAIRD M.HUGHES
REFEREE: MR G POUNDER
ASSISTANT REFEREES : MR J RYDER MR R SMILLIE*
*Details of Match Officials provided by MR I ROBIN
