In a bit of a deja-vu match (from the previous evening) at Inverleith, the home side almost threw away a substantial lead to hold on and take a narrow victory against Kelso in the penultimate round of the RBS National League.
On the offensive from the off, Stew-Mel scored their first try after less than four minutes of play. Breaking through the Kelso lines, they were quickly into the opponents 22 and with the defence struggling to get back a simple pass put No 15, Mike Hanning over for a touch down under the posts. Nick McCashin missed the easy conversion as he blasted the ball low into one of the Kelso players. Kelso soon struck back with a penalty from their No 10, Matthew Douglas to take the score to 5-3 with just under 10 minutes on the clock.
Stew-Mel almost struck back immediately but Douglas was having an off-day and missed the penalty. It didn’t take long for their next score, however, as lineout ball was quickly passed along the backs line and No 12, Neil Bowie, galloped over the line only to be grabbed by Kelso’s No 7, Gordon Harkins with a tackle straight out of a ‘Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner’ cartoon! The flanker stretched out a despairing arm and caught Bowie under the chin, effectively, stopping his head while the rest of his body carried on in the great tradition of the cartoon series. Seriously though, the tackle could have resulted in a significant injury to the player and the referee had no option but to bin Harkins and award a penalty try, which McClashin knocked over to take the lead out to 12-3. Another penalty for Stew-Mel then saw the score up to 15-3 with less than 20 minutes played.
Kelso then went on an offensive of their own and less than five minutes later, their attacking line out flanked the home defence and No 12 Frankie Robson, evaded the diving Matt Morrell and ran in for Kelso’s first try. Douglas missed the kick from wide out, so the score now stood at 15-8 to Stew-Mel. The next few minutes of play were largely dominated by the home side and they received their just reward when another fine piece of interplay put Morrell through for a try under the posts. Again, McClashin, scored the conversion and Stew-Mel had a, fairly comfortable, 22-8 lead. A penalty awarded in front of the posts to Kelso, earned Stew-Mel a yellow, and Kelso three points, which they augmented a few minutes before the break to leave the half time score 22-14 to Stew-Mel.
The second half started as had the first, with the home side on the attack and, 10 minutes in, Morrell evaded the Kelso defence out wide and scored his second try of the match, to bring the score up to 27-14. Due to a bit of foul play later in the half, Stew-Mel found themselves down to 13 as two yellows were ‘earned’ within minutes of each other and Kelso tried to take full advantage. They had to settle, however for a three points from another Douglas penalty to make the score 27-17. Once the hosts were back up to full strength, Stew-Mel did manage a break out through Morrell, and another attack up the right which was defended well by Kelso. The visitors then turned up the heat a bit and hammered away at the home defence, playing some of their best rugby of the game. And they were to be rewarded as they spread the defence out on the left, then ‘bad boy’ of the first half, Harkins handed the ball out of a tackle to No 19, Dom Buckley, who crashed over for the try. Douglas missed the kick, but Kelso were now within five points at 27-22. The last few minutes of the match were spent mostly in the Stew-Mel half, but Kelso couldn’t get the final break they needed to score so the match ended with Stew-Mel the, possibly fortunate, winners 27-22.
So another Edinburgh side secures a decent lead then almost throws it away with a not so clever second half performance. Again, too many penalties, gave the visitors the chance to keep in touch and, ultimately, get within a single score of taking the match.
The final round of the National League is played out on 22nd March with Watsonians playing host to Stew-Mel. With Boroughmuir already crowned champions, a bonus point win for ‘Sonians will see them secure second place and a play-off slot for promotion. Anything else should see Stew-Mel over the finishing line. It’s ‘all to play for…’ as they say…..
Images from the match will be uploaded to here over the next few days.
