Currie too hot for Biggar
Biggar fell just short of catching Premiership opponents Currie as they bowed out of the Scottish Cup preliminary round.
The Chieftains ran out 29-24 winners, but Biggar can take lots of positives from the encounter, not least that they came away with no apparent injuries, and can look forward to the return of at least five players in the coming weeks.
In relatively dry but blustery conditions, Biggar opened up with the wind at their backs and were very quickly on the attack.
Indeed, their first foray into Currie territory saw youngster Jamie Campbell run in on an angle to crash over for the opening score.
Currie responded swiftly, and drew level with a try of their own after just seven minutes. It was clearly going to be an interesting afternoon.
Currie then took the lead in 20 minutes from a penalty try for collapsing a maul, and it looked like the 12-5 lead would remain until the interval.
However, a technical decision from referee Jonny Perriam gave Biggar a five-metre scrum when a Currie drop-out looked more likely.
A free kick against Currie was the trigger for Luhann Kutze, who tapped quickly to dart over the line for 12-12.
However, Kutze’s clearance kick at the start of the half was charged down, giving Currie the simplest of tries and a 19-12 lead, and then Gregor Hunter kicked a penalty and then converted Currie’s fourth try, putting them seemingly out of sight at 29-12.
Following a lengthy stoppage for an injury to one of the Currie players – who was at least able to walk off the pitch – Biggar rang the changes in a bid to get their bench involved.
After a solid scrum, the backs launched an attack which saw Rowan Stewart and Robbie Orr combine well in the midfield, and which ended in the latter crossing for a score which Andrew Jardine converted for 29-19.
That put Biggar’s tails up, and with the backs causing all sorts of problems for Currie, another series of attacks saw Simon Horell squeeze in at the corner for a great try, cutting the deficit to 29-24.
Biggar went back on the attack, but with time running out Currie employed a neat line out tactic to catch the visitors napping and win a free kick, allowing them to clear the immediate danger.
A second free kick at the next scrum also saw Currie clear their lines and they ran out winners in the end.