Boroughmuir fightback counts for nothing after agonising lapse
THERE was high drama at Bridgehaugh on Saturday, when Boroughmuir fought their way back from 22-0 down just before half-time to snatch a 25-31 lead as the game moved into injury time – only to concede a penalty try in the last play of the game.
Replacement wing Aaron Purewal slapped a cross-field kick out of play before it reached Logan Trotter, who would almost certainly have scored.
As Purewal made no attempt to catch the ball, referee Graeme Wells was left with little choice but to award the penalty try, and Jonny Hope then held his nerve to slot the conversion which booked Stirling County a semi-final showdown against Melrose at the Greenyards on March 25.
It was a bitter pill for Boroughmuir to swallow, but head coach Peter Wright was at pains to ensure that not all of the blame was laid at the young winger’s door.
It should be noted that this was not the only costly slip-up by the visitors during the match. A missed conversion from almost directly in front of the posts after Boroughmuir’s first try would have rendered that penalty try academic. And having finally got in front with just a few minutes left on the clock, the Edinburgh side took their eye off the ball at the restart, which allowed Hope to latch on to Ross Jones’ clever grubber kick as it bobbled over the ten metre line, which provided the platform for Stirling’s final tilt at glory.
“We got our noses in front, a six-point lead, but we knew that with a guy like Johnny Hope around we were never safe. In the end, they put up a Hail-Mary kick, our young lad on the wing panicked and illegally hit it out. It’s no fault of his – he played really well when he came on. In the end, we did enough to win the game, but we just couldn’t get over that finish line,” said Wright.
“I think the manner in which we conceded marred what was a fantastic comeback. We were awful in the firsthalf – our forwards were awful and we couldn’t get any clean ball to our backs. But we had some stern words at halftime, made some changes, and we played a level of rugby that Stirling couldn’t cope with.”
Stirling coach David Adamson had a fair amount of sympathy for the beaten team, but was in no doubt about the rectitude of the final result.
“I think it’s pretty unlucky. Purewal came on and played really well, but you just can’t knock the ball off the pitch. Whether Logan Trotter was going to catch it is irrelevant, as it is against the laws of the game, so I think it was the right decision in the end,” he said.
Stirling had raced into that early lead through tries from Mike MacDonald, Andrew Grant-Suttie, Jones and Matt Donaldson. Boroughmuir grabbed one back just before half-time through Craig Keddie, and were then a completely different proposition after the break – powering into the lead with two scores from Robert Cairns, plus one apiece for Purewal and Dale Robertson.
Although Stirling were well off the pace for most of the second half, they deserve a huge amount of credit for the way they battled back at the very end.
The other three BT Cup quarter-final ties on Saturday went more or less according to form. Hawks ran in eight tries in a fairly comfortable 53-29 victory over Gala, but they know they will have to up their game when they visit Ayr (who defeated Jed-Forest 36-7) in the last four.
Melrose booked their place in the semi-final thanks to a five-try first-half blitz which set up a 29-12 victory over last season’s cup winners Heriot’s.