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Bears beat Peebles to go top of the table

3rd XV rack up another big score

15 January 2014

Jan

15

Boroughmuir Bears 71; Peebles 2nd XV 7

Boroughmuir Bears on paper faced a tough test in their opening game of 2014, facing league leaders Peebles 2nds last Saturday. The Bears were beaten quite easily away to Peebles in October and indeed had not registered a win against the Borders side in the past three encounters. However, the Bears hit a rich vain of form in December, hammering former league toppers Haddington by 100 points and sneaking a 3 point victory against Lasswade in atrocious conditions.

The Bears were at close to full strength taking to the field and there was a first Bears outing for young full-back James Armstrong who was making his comeback after two months out injured. In the pack there was also a debut for another youngster, prop Sandy Hewitt. The team was led by veteran lock Gordon Pearse.

The game kicked off with the Bears having the wind behind them and also with their backs to the low sun, which was at times blinding for the players. With these two advantages the Bears started well and in the early scrums, it was clear that the home side had the upper hand on their opponents. This allowed number 8 Luke Tarry to make some good carries from the base of the scrum and link with his other forwards, notably Myles Skirving, Derek McLeod and Ross Smith.

After some sustained pressure in the Peebles twenty-two, the Bears formed a ferocious maul from a half-break by stand-off Derek Murray. The defence could not stop the momentum and when over the Peebles try line, it was Myles Skirving that claimed the try. The score was converted by full-back Armstrong.

Peebles came back at the Bears and looked pretty useful with ball in hand. However, the Bears had not conceded a point in the previous 160 minutes of rugby and they showed why, with big hits coming in the forwards, typically from Richard Marshall, Roy Stewart and Skirving. In the backs, centre Aaron Maguire who recently proposed to his girlfriend in the romantic surroundings of New York, was showing his meaner side, dumping opponents back with ease.

The second try came from the backs, with James Armstrong tracking a break from Rory Scott and cantering in from half-way. The try was converted by the full-back as well.

Next up on the score sheet was captain Gordon Pearse, who was delighted to score a try against the club he played for as a teenager and well into his mid twenties. Two more tries were scored in the first half by Bears, as the home side continued to play with power and tempo. The tries came from Armstrong again, who’s speed and angles of running from deep were proving too much for the Peebles backline.

On the stroke of half-time, Aaron Maguire cut through the Peebles midfield and a simple draw and pass of the opposition full-back saw his fellow centre Rory Scott clear for what looked like a certain try. As the swaggering Scott went to touch the ball down, a Peebles defender came out of no where to surprise Scott and force him to fumble the ball and botch the score. The incident secured Dick of the Day status for poor old Rory!

At half-time the Bears held a 35-0 lead against a shell-shocked Peebles.

During the break, Coach Kev Robertson and Director of Team Talks Gordon Laidlaw, praised their sides excellent first half performance. However, they challenged their players to build on the performance and claim more tries, this time into the wind and with the sun in their eyes.

The Bears did just that and scored an early try through Luke Tarry. This was followed by three tries, all claimed by the half-back pair of Ed Zuiderent and Derek Murray. The influential Murray was at the heart of the best backs moves during the match and claimed a try either side of number 9 Ed Zuiderent. Well, Zuiderent was actually wearing number 21 due to an inability to get his frame into the number 9 top before the game. The vocal Duthchman obviously enjoyed his food during the recent Christmas festivities!

With the victory well and truly secured by sixty minutes, the strong replacements bench was used. Liam Mitchell and Andy Clark showed they are pushing hard for a starting place, and were prominent in the loose when they came on, with the latter claiming a fifth try of the season for himself.

It was fitting that the last score for the Bears was claimed by Man of the Match, James Armstrong who this time showed good power to burst through a gap in the midfield and score from close range. He also converted his fourth try, to claim an impressive points haul for the match of 36.

Annoyingly for the Bears, Peebles claimed the last try of the game, after a loose kick was fielded by the opposition full-back and some tired tackle attempts led to a soft consolation score.

All in all this was a superb performance by the Bears squad and shows that they are finally clicking into a cohesive side. They now sit proudly at the top of the league, with a one point lead over RHC and a healthy points difference.

Next up for the Bears is a tricky away trip to Dunfermiline 2nd XV this Saturday. C’mon the Bears!

1.Richard Marshall 2. Ross Smith 3. Sandy Hewitt, 4 Gordon Pearse (capt). 5. Derek McLeod, 6. Myles Skirving, 7. Roy Stewart, 8. Luke Tarry, 9. Ed Zuiderent, 10. Derek Murray, 11. Malcolm Jack, 12. Aaron Maguire, 13. Rory Scott 14. Chris Whitelcok, 15. James Armstrong

Replacements: Billy Blyth, Richard Robson, Andy Clark, Liam Mitchell, Chris Evans, Lee McDonald

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