Watsonians repel Bulls to maintain perfect run
Super6 Sprint
WATSONIANS will go into the post- split section of the Super6 Sprint Series as unbeaten top dogs after withstanding a second- half fightback from nearest challengers Ayrshire Bulls to secure a 29-26 win at Millbrae yesterday afternoon.
“This was a step up in intensity and quality from any other games in this series,” Watsonians coach Fergus Pringle said. “I was delighted with the character the guys showed during the second half, before we came back at the end to see out the game.”
The Edinburgh side scored all their points in the first half through a brace of tries by full-back Harry Paterson and one each by Edinburgh pro Matt Currie and Rory Brand, plus three conversions and a penalty from captain Lee Millar.
Bulls crossed the whitewash t wice in that first period through Liam McNamara and Cam Jones, then Lewis McNamara and Bobby Beattie dotted down after the break. Christian Townsend kicked three out of four conversions.
Meanwhile, Stirling County booked their place in the top three for the round- robin section by beating Heriot’s 45-27 at Bridgehaugh.
The home side bounced back from conceding two early tries, scored by Jack Blain and Iain Wilson, to lead 17-12 at the break thanks to scores from Ratu Tagive, Lewis Skinner and Marcus Holden.
Holden, Sean Kennedy t wice and Logan Trotter all got on the scoresheet after the interval, with Holden kicking 10 points.
Heriot’s kept in touch with second- half tries by Euan McLaren, Ruairidh Leishman and a second for Wilson.
Stirling County coach Ben Cairns said: “We would have taken that at the start of the day, and we certainly would have taken it after 20 minutes.
“I thought the way the boys turned the momentum round after a really slow start was excellent. Going in at half time with the lead and with the wind in the second half was big for us. I thought we played some really good rugby for the first 15-20 minutes or so of that second half. I was a little bit disappointed at the way we ended the game.”
Boroughmuir ran out 31-18 winners over Southern Knights when the bottom two sides met at Meggetland on Friday.