Feb
10
By Chris Evans
RHC Cougars 9 - Boroughmuir Bears 3
The Boroughmuir Bears went into the game against RHC Cougars 2nds in 6th place, one place ahead of their city rivals. The Bears had lost their home fixture to the Cougars at the start of the season, so travelled to Union Park looking for revenge. The veterans in the Bears side however knew that this one of the most difficult places to win in this league, as the Cougars are very formidable opponents on their home patch.
There was a welcome return to the Bears back-line for centre Derek Murray who had been out for several months with old man’s back syndrome. His experience was desperately needed in a team that was low on confidence after a heavy defeat to Murrayfield Wanderers last week. Youngster Lewis Robinson also filled in at hooker, a position which the Bears are struggling to fill at the moment.
Although the weather was fine on the day, the pitch was saturated from the weeks heavy rain and as a consequence all hope for open, running rugby was replaced with the reality that it would be an attritional, mud fest of a game.
The Bears kicked off the game and immediately put the Cougars under pressure, forcing turnovers through the like of forwards Rod Hutchison and Andy Clark. The opening minutes were marred with an act of unnecessary thuggery from the home teams number 8 who took it open himself to cheap shot stand-off Chris Evans. The referee had full sight of the foul play but perhaps due to the fact he probably refereed in the 70’s he adjudged it only a yellow card. With it taking Evans ten minutes to get his injuries patched up, the Bears did not really get the advantage they deserved and this laissez-faire style of refereeing continued throughout the match.
The Bears continued to exert pressure for most of the first half and there were a few half chances for the likes of centre Luke Tarry and Dutch winger Gabriel Rammeloo. However, little errors crept into the Bears game and they began to get frustrated with the lack of cutting edge.
RHC were very aggressive and competitive at the break-down, so were able to win turnover ball from the Bears numerous times in the first half. The home side however found territory hard to come by, as in defence the Bears were well organised and disciplined. The couple of times that the Cougars did threaten the Bears line, good scrambing tackles from Murray and Ulsterman wing Chris O’Neill snuffed out the attack. The Cougars did register the only points of the first half with a penalty in front of the posts and the Bears went in at half-time frustrated to be down 3-0.
Coaches Alan Sievwright and Gordon Laidlaw read the riot act to the Bears at half-time as they knew their side could play much better than they had in the opening fourty minutes. Given the pitch conditions and the grittiness of their opponents, it was clear that the game would be won by the team that wanted it more and going into the second half the Bears seemed up for it.
The Cougars started the second half how they finished it and extended their lead with another penalty from their full-back. Buoyed by this the Cougars started to play more positive rugby and cut through the Bears usually solid midfield and it was left to full-back Stevie Harris to stop a certain try by his opposite number. Harris chopped down his man brilliantly and was able to force the Cougars to concede a penalty, which relieved the pressure momentarily on the Bears.
As the stalemate continued, the Bears became more anxious as the clock ticked down and also became frustrated by some dodgy decisions by the referee. These factors contributed to a really poor last twenty for the Bears in which they couldn’t get out of their half apart from the odd occasion. On one such occasion they pulled back three points from an Evans penalty. This was after the home side had claimed another penalty kick and these trades were the last scores of the match. RHC Cougars ran out deserved winners 9-3, as they simply played with more aggression and wanted it more.
The Bears man-of-the-match today was no.7 Luke Maidment. For a slight guy he puts his body on the line in every game and was easily the Bears top tackler against RHC. He was also instrumental in slowing the home sides ball and turning over possession for the Bears. If he bullks up his physique and commits to training he has the potential to play at a higher level. Luke has that invaluable quality of any top open-side - a reckless disregard for his own body!
A special mention must also be made for the Bears only replacement today Blair Calder. Blair has only recently taken up rugby and found himself first of all on the wing and then latterly in the forwards at flanker. He is still learning the rules and skills but he was committed and keen to get involved today.
Physio Neil Elbourne, also deserves a special mention for patching up the wounded, not least the match reporter who didn’t beat the ten count but was able to play the rest of the game after he was cleaned up!
The past couple of months have been a frustrating time for the Bears. A lot of matches have been postponed robbing the team of the chance to build momentum. This in turn has seen a drop off in the number of players making the effort to get to training. In Sievwright and Laidlaw the Bears have two committed coaches that bleed Boroughmuir RFC and the players owe it to them at least to put more effort in for the club. If they can do this, then the talent the Bears have can be realised and a strong end to the season beckons.
15. Stevie Harris, 14. Gabriel Rammeloo, 13. Derek Murray, 12. Luke Tarry, 11. Chris O’Neill, 10. Chris Evans, 9. Cameron Leask, 8. Andy Clark, 7. Luke Maidment, 6. Chaz Campbell, 5. Rod Hutchison, 4. Kyle Mackinnon 3. Billy Blythe 2. Lewis Robinson 1. Scott Anderson
Sub Used: Blair Calder
