SCOTTISH CUP
QUARTER FINAL TIE
GHA 55 BOROUGHMUIR 14
By Chris Nairn
After a long hiatus GHA returned to competitive action at a very busy Braidholm on Saturday. Saturday was Ladies Day at GHA: an event which has manifestly become a red-letter day in the social calendar of the Southside! The sell out event was held in the club suite which had been superbly prepared to provide an elegant and classy environment by Sharon, Lyndsay and Craig. The introduction of beautifully garnished round tables added to the ambience of the venue. The sumptuous decor was matched by the glamour and style of the participants in the event which is dedicated to raising monies for Cash for Kids. An impressive Programme of Events was placed at each seat and summed up the care and attention to detail by the club when hosting such events.
On matters rugby, Braidholm was hosting the U18s West Youth Shield Final against Biggar RFC. (GHA won the match in a superb performance). The senior squad faced Boroughmuir in the Quarter Final of the Scottish Cup. All these activities created an air of excitement and expectancy as the crowd began to arrive and swell the attendance in a very busy club house and surrounds. Perhaps the greatest mystery of the day was the weather! Throughout the afternoon we were to be treated to sunny conditions, hailstorms, sleet and of course a biting cross-field wind. Such conditions would challenge the collective desires of both senior sides to play attacking rugby. The pitch was a tad soft on top and greasy from intermittent rain squalls in the hours preceding the match but was firm underneath. Both sides, in very cold conditions, went through muscle warming preparation before embarking on core and unit skills with the home side spending some time on contact work where the emphasis was on angle of contact.
A minute’s silence was observed in honour of the passing of Neil MacFarlane- father of our Max and Rory. All at Braidholm offer their condolences to the family of a smashing gentleman at this very sad and difficult time.
Both sides took the opportunity to play several of the younger contingent in this Cup tie, exposing them to the reality of 1XV contact at this level. It was highly appropriate on this day that the match referee was Ms Gillespie, hailing from the land of the Long White Cloud and in particular the South Island. GHA kicked off with a high kick into the Boroughmuir twenty-two metre area and the visitors attempted to run the ball before the rapidly advancing GHA attack stopped the forward momentum of the visitors. For several minutes there was a tendency of both sides to knock the ball forward, send loose passes and concede penalties for infringements. Perhaps these mistakes were the result of the lack of recent match time, certainly for GHA. By the fifth minute GHA had begun to settle down to the task in hand and were seeking to establish dominance in the set piece and loose to build a platform to launch their eager backs at the visitors. Boroughmuir were struggling to make progress as some clever initiatives by the enterprising Clark and Martin were shut down by highly effective offensive tackling from the GHA backs. GHA put together a lovely passage of passing play which cut through the visitors’ defence deep into the Boroughmuir half and allowed skill and speed to set Struan White (who was to cause the visitors no end of problems all afternoon with his speed and angles of running) to score. Andrew Goudie converted the try and the score after nine minutes was GHA 7 BOROUGHMUIR 0.
The home side from the restart moved into attacking mode and were asking questions of the visitor defence with a nice combination of forward drives, subtle placed kicks just ahead of the attack and excellent passing. As a result, the visitors were forced on to the backfoot as the confidence in home ranks began to grow. A lovely feint by the master technician Andrew Goudie threw the Boroughmuir defence totally off the pace as he recycled a blocked pass to set up Aminio Bogidrau to score in the corner- to appreciative cheers from the home support. A difficult conversion failed and the score after twelve minutes was now: GHA 12 BOROUGHMUIR 0.
This double hit seemed to affect the confidence of the visitors who found their attempts to build an attacking platform stymied by an effective and aggressive GHA backline. Slowly, to their credit, the visitors began to settle and recover from the early setbacks and only a superb tackle by Dario Ewing prevented a promising break by Boroughmuir well inside the GHA half leading to a score. Lovely work by Messrs Smith, Christie and Lockhart inspired the visitors to take the match to the home side. As we reached the fifteenth minute several promising moves by the visitors broke down as the ball went loose or was knocked on. The weather had deteriorated and the biting cold was having an adverse effect on handling abilities for all the players. Both sides bravely carried on and GHA recovered their earlier dominance by taking play to the Boroughmuir try line. The visitors managed to scramble the ball clear but conceded a penalty. Andrew Goudie placed the ball in the corner and from the resulting lineout Jonathan Davis went over to increase the GHA lead. The conversion failed and the score after twenty-one minutes was now: GHA 17 Boroughmuir 0.
Suddenly a hailstorm of biblical proportions hit Braidholm with the players and officials and the very pitch being difficult to see at one point such was the force of the hail. Conditions were already unpleasant and it is to the immense credit of all involved that the adverse weather was ignored by the participants. The home side were now displaying a ruthless ability to win clean ball and execute moves with forwards and backs combining which threatened to overpower the visitors. As we approached the half hour point further pressure from GHA drove the visitors back into their own half and in a masterful piece of skill, Andrew Goudie, having pulled the visiting defence towards him deep inside the twenty-two metre area, fashioned an accurate long pass to Nicky Thompson who scampered over past the fully stretched Boroughmuir defence to score. The conversion failed and the score after twenty-eight minutes was GHA 22 BOROUGHMUIR 0.
Some sides may have fallen away in such circumstances, but Boroughmuir are made of better stuff. They continued to try and find a way through the home defence and win the ball in contact. As we approached the interval there was a decided slackness suddenly in some of the GHA work and the visitors seemed to be galvanised by this. A loose pass inside the GHA half was intercepted by the ever-alert Mark O’Hare who shot through GHA ranks to score. The try was converted to great appreciation from the Edinburgh contingent and the score was now: GHA 22 BOROUGHMUIR 7. This score gave the visitors greater self-belief and suddenly GHA found themselves defending desperately inside their twenty-two then five metre area.
A number of well executed drives and feints by the visitors were unlucky not to cross the line as the home side realised they were under severe pressure. Despite excellent lead up work by the visitors, resolute defending and execution of basic skills allowed GHA to escape further punishment and the home side were relieved to hear the half time whistle. The last five to ten minutes of the half had shown the importance of maintaining concentration and energy and equally the importance of never giving up. GHA had provided some good rugby in difficult conditions and their dominance of set piece, and the breakdown allowed them to launch waves of pressure on the visitors. Boroughmuir would take strength from their excellent play in the latter part of the half and would look to build on that in the second.
Astonishingly the second half began in bright sunshine after the horrors of the first forty. However, no one believed for a moment that balmy weather had arrived at Braidholm. The visitors restart kick fell short and immediately handed a halfway scrum to GHA and the advantage to set in motion a ploy or move to test the Boroughmuir rearguard. The home side won the scrum and moved the ball through hands, a deft chip-through by Nicky Thompson caught the Boroughmuir defence flat footed and the ever-alert Dario Ewing sprinted through to collect the ball and score to general acclaim from the home support. The try was converted and the score after two minutes of the half was now: GHA 29 BOROUGHMUIR 7.
The home side had answered any questions as to their motivation by scoring so early. GHA were to employ a rich variety of chips, grubber kicks and deft overlays all afternoon which constantly forced the visitors to hesitate in the direction of their engagement. Despite this setback, the visitors took the game to the home side from the restart and capitalised on a fumble by the home side to gain territory in the GHA half. In fact, close work by the visiting pack took play well inside the GHA half and put the home side on the back foot. Clearly Boroughmuir had no intention of accepting the situation and in a well-conceived break Gavin Lockhart burst through the home defence from just outside the five metre area to deservedly score. The try was converted and the score after seven minutes of the half was now: GHA 29 BOROUGHMUIR 14.
As the clouds reappeared the home side marshalled superbly by the pack efforts- especially Messrs McCutcheon, Plumridge, Ewing and Kerr- thrust deep into the Boroughmuir half with a combination of tight drives, recycles and ball retention which forced the visitors to concede ground and allowed the home side to build a platform to strike. In a planned release of the ball inside the Boroughmuir twenty-two metre area a brilliant running line chosen by Straun White allowed him to carve a way through desperate defence efforts to score. The try was converted by Andrew Goudie and the score was now after ten minutes of the half: GHA 36 BOROUGHMUIR 14.
The home side were now in the ascendency but were still being made to work hard for every breakthrough, every drive every contact. Boroughmuir refused to capitulate and were determined to fight their way back into this match. Equally, the home side were determined that there would be no repeat of the seeming lapses at the end of the first half. This made for an enjoyable encounter between two sides who wanted to play running rugby all afternoon irrespective of the score.
As we passed the twenty fourth minute of the half the home side again began to make inroads into Boroughmuir territory. The arrival of Tom Lonergan into the match gave no respite to the visitors as Tom used his ample skills to drive the home side forward. With one particularly well-placed penalty from halfway he took play into the Boroughmuir twenty-two metre area. Whilst the resultant move from winning lineout ball broke down, the visitors conceded a penalty and in a deft, quickly executed move Ruari Campbell went over to score. The try was converted and the score as we entered the final ten minutes of the match was now: GHA 43 BOROUGHMUIR 14.
The home side were intent on continuing to play adventurous and effective running rugby against a brave opponent who stuck to their task all afternoon. As we passed the seventy fourth minute an excellent passing movement took play deep into the Boroughmuir half before skilful passing allowed Struan White to once again go through to score. The conversion failed and the score was now: GHA 48 BOROUGHMUIR 14. The home side managed to break the Boroughmuir defence once more to allow Euan McKirdy to score. The try was converted and the final score was: GHA 55 BOROUGHMUIR 14.
This was an impressive performance from the home side with excellent execution of basics allowing the team to build a very powerful attacking platform and to take their chances superbly. Boroughmuir worked very hard to find a way into the match and whilst struggling to cope with the accurate pressure from GHA, never capitulated and always looked to attack. GHA now await the outcome of the semi-final draw which will be held next week. Certainly, this performance suggests that GHA will not surrender their hold on the trophy without tremendous effort.
BOROUGHMUIR: G.LOCKHART A.BOLDOR J.EDMUNDS P.CHRISTIE H.LEITCH I.MARTIN B.CLARK J.ROBERTSON T.FRANCOMBE L.SMALL M.JEWSON W.LOCKHART M.DILLON L.CALDER N SMITH D.McKINSTRAY H.STEVENS J.BROOKES M.O’HARE M.ARMSTRONG K.McMILLAN L.VEITCH
GHA: G.MOLLISON S.WHITE N.THOMPSON A.BOGIDRAU G.LITTLE A.GOUDIE B.CURTIS L.HODGE E.McGOVERN C.MacGREGOR A.KERR J.DAVIS S.PLUMRIDGE D.EWING L.McCUTCHEON R.CAMPBELL S.COLLINS M.FOX S.CALLAGHAN E.McKIRDY T.LONERGAN M.HUGHES
REFEREE : Ms C GILLESPIE
ASSISTANT REFEREES; MR C WEHMEYER MR. D THOMAS
Thanks to Mr Ian Robin for details of Officials.
