Match Report: Ayrshire Bulls v  Boroughmuir Bears

Ayrshire Bulls earned their first home win of the season in the second round of the FOSROC Super6 action at Millbrae.

The first score came on seven minutes when Ayrshire Bulls worked their way upfield, Stafford McDowall put in a grubber kick for Rory Hughes to collect and score, Frazier Climo adding the extras.

Boroughmuir Bears hit back straight away. Scrum half Thomas Wilson took a quick penalty and nipped over to grab a try for the Edinburgh side with full-back Gavin Parker converting.

Parker stretched their lead further four minutes later with a straightforward penalty before the Bulls took the lead from a line out on the 22-meter line. The Bulls maul was too powerful for the Boroughmuir Bears to defend which allowed hooker Sam Kitchen to get the ball over the line.

The Ayrshire Bulls stretched their lead before half time as winger Tom Lewis ran in a try from an overlap on the far side, Climo again adding the extras.

Half time: Ayrshire Bulls 19 – 10 Boroughmuir Bears 

The Boroughmuir Bears got the scoring underway in the second half with Parker kicking a penalty to narrow Bulls lead to within a converted try.

From the half-way line the home sides Ollie Smith made a break down the wing with support from Stafford McDowall, he was able to collect from the full-back before delivering a pass to Rory Hughes to score.

Into the last twenty minutes, Frazier Climo stood up to take a long-range kick just within the halfway, his experience showed and slotted it with ease to give the west-coast team another three important points.

Ayrshire Bulls extended their lead further as back-row Graham Geldenhuys collected a pass from Rory Hughes to dive over the whitewash.

With two minutes to go the game still wasn’t over. Boroughmuir Bears replacement George Thornton rumbled over the try line from short range to give the traveling fans hope. With one eye on the clock, which was rapidly approaching 80 minutes, Kyle McGhie drop kicked the conversion.

On the 80-minute mark it was Martin Cimprich who broke through the home defence to offload to McGhie and run in a late try. He converted his own try, but it was too little too late for the Boroughmuir Bears.

Full Time: Ayrshire Bulls 32-27 Boroughmuir Bears 

FOSROC Player of the Match: Lars Morrice (Ayrshire Bulls)

Referee: Finlay Brown

Ayrshire Bulls: 1. Gordon Reid, 2. Sam Kitchen, 3. Ruaridh Sayce, 4. Lars Morrice, 5. Fraser Hastie, 6. George Bordill, 7. Pete McCallum (C), 8. Blair MacPherson, 9. David Armstrong, 10. Frazier Climo, 11. Rory Hughes, 12. Stafford McDowall, 13. Danny McCluskey, 14. Tom Lewis, 15. Ollie Smith

Replacements: 16. Lewis Anderson, 17. Michael Scott, 18. Nicolas Griffiths, 19. Graham Geldenhuys, 20. Gavin Wilson, 21. Issac McNulty, 22. Ross Thompson, 23. Harry Warr

Boroughmuir Bears: 1. Michael Downer, 2. Jonny Mathews, 3. Dan Winning, 4. Ewan Stewart, 5. Callum Atkinson, 6. Bruce Flockhart, 7. Thomas Gordon, 8. Craig Keddie, 9.Tom Wilson, 10. Chris Laidlaw ©, 11. Jordan Edmunds, 12. Jack Steele, 13. Archie Russell, 14. Cammy Gray, 15. Gavin Parker

Replacements: 16. Toby Francombe, 17. George Thornton, 18. Martin McGinley 19. Will Inglis, 20. Greg Cannie, 21. Kyle McGhie, 22. Martin Cimprich, 23. Aubrey Mncube

Match Report: Stirling County v Southern Knights

Bridgehaugh was the venue for the Southern Knights first away fixture in the FOSROC Super6 as they were welcomed by hosts Stirling County.

It was a game which gave both sets of supporters plenty to cheer about and ultimately, after 80 minutes of high-intensity rugby, the two teams still couldn’t be separated.

Stirling dominated most of the first forty and opened the scoring within the first 5 minutes. Following a break by Josh Henderson through the middle of the field, several phases eventually saw Dean Taylor-Menzies collecting a short inside pass to score.

The Southern Knights looked to get back into things quickly and the gap was reduced to two points after full-back Ciaran Whyte slotted a penalty just inside the County 22.

Henderson made yet another impressive break as he took his side forward after some sustained pressure on the visitors. Captain Reyner Kennedy came up with the ball in hand over the line, as the Stirling forwards found success to score their second try of the game. Henderson’s kick from the left touchline sailed over to give the home side a 9-point lead.

Things were to get even better for County just before half-time, as Andrew Davidson breached the white-wash and Henderson completed the conversion.

​Half-Time Stirling County 19-3 Southern Knights 

The half-time team-talk by Rob Chrystie and his staff seemed to do the trick for the visitors, making an instant impact when play resumed.

Rory Darge broke the gain line with an incisive run and the ball was worked through the hands before Ruairh Knott stretched over to ignite the come-back. Whyte converted to reduce the deficit back to 9-points.

The Knights were quickly back in the county 22 no sooner than they had left. A successful take in the line-out started to put the wheels in motion for a second try in 8 minutes, as a pass from Murdo McAndrew after sneaking round the back of the ruck stretched the County defence to find the hands of Mvelese-Julean to dot down a simple score.

It was then back up the pitch in this helter-skelter encounter and Stirling County swiftly had another score through Caleb Corteweg, his second of the tournament, as he dived on a kick thorough after a missed line-out by the Knights.

The drama wasn’t over yet, Stirling were forced to call on some valiant defence when camped on their own line. The home cheers suggested they thought they had successfully secured the win after pinching it back to clear their lines with seconds on the clock remaining.

However, there was still one more twist after the final hooter had blown, Southern Knights determination paid off when Patrick Anderson scored to leave Whyte a pressure kick to earn a draw.

He made no mistake as it sailed through the middle from the right of the posts for the first draw in the history of FOSROC Super6.

Full-Time: Stirling County 24-24 Southern Knights 

FOSROC Player of the Match: Josh Henderson (Stirling County)

Referee: Hollie Davidson

Stirling County: 1. Billy Dineen, 2. Reyner Kennedy (C), 3. Murphy Walker, 4. Ollie Bartlett, 5. Andrew Davidson, 6. George Arnott 7. Matt Smith, 8. Dean Taylor-Menzies, 9. Caleb Kortwege, 10. Josh Henderson, 11. Logan Trotter, 12. Grant Hughes, 13. Robbie Kent, 14. Ewan McGarvie, 15. Brandon Thomson

Replacements: 16. Aaron Thomson, 17. Adam Wood, 18. Charlie Brown, 19. Cameron Henderson), 20. Connor Gordon 21. Andrew Goudie, 22. Ollie Horne, 23. Andrew McLean

Southern Knights 1.Grant Sheills (C), 2. Fraser Renwick, 3. Ewan Mcquillan, 4. Angus Runciman, 5. Ruaridh Knott, 6. Neil Irvine-Hess, 7. Rory Darge, 8.Iain Moody, 9.Murdo McAndrew, 10. Thomas Galbraith 11. Michael Mvelase-Julyan, 12. Andrew Nagle, 13. Patrick Anderson 14. Joseph Jenkins, 15. Cieran Whyte

Replacements: 16. Russell Anderson, 17. Shaun Gunn, 18. Conor Young, 19. Dalton Redpath, 20. Dylan Taylor, 21. Struan Hutchison, 22. Nathan Sweeney 23. Gavin Wood

Match report: Heriot’s Rugby v Watsonians 

This derby kicked off against the backdrop of a Goldenacre main stand brimming with chatter and anticipation on a crisp Edinburgh afternoon.

The opening exchanges were as attritional as one might expect, with both sides vying for territory and space in the midfield at a premium.

It was the visitors who nearly took the lead after a scything run from winger Angus Guthrie put them deep into opposition ground. Guthrie would have scored but for some stellar scramble defence, but it only prolonged the inevitable.

After 12 minutes, Stuart Edwards’ clearance was gathered by Joe Reynolds who passed to the bulldozing Lomond MacPherson to score, with Lee Millar obliging the extras.

Heriot’s Rugby levelled after 20 minutes when Jack Blain punctured the visiting defence to put full-back Rory McMichael over for the easiest of scores, scrum-half Alex Ball converting.

A breathless encounter continued and Watsonians again went ahead courtesy of a sensational chip-and-catch from Watsonians’ Reynolds after another bruising MacPherson run. Millar was unable to add the extras and it remained 12-7.

A 30-metre Ball penalty brought the home side to within two points as half-time approached and they went deep into ‘Sonians’ trenches with another Edwards touch-finder after a lineout was brought down illegally.

A superb driving maul on the stroke of half-time reaped the ultimate reward for Heriot’s Rugby, Scott Riddell given the credit with Ball converting.

Half-time: Heriot’s Rugby 17-12 Watsonians

The second period opened with the same intent as the first, with the visitors dominating this time. After 44 minutes, a deft chip through by Millar almost repeated their first try last week but Blain swept well and gathered.

Watsonians got their just reward two minutes later as Millar’s flat pass found winger Guthrie and after a lovely step, he went over to level the scores at 17-17.

Relentless Watsonians pressure led to yet another try, that man MacPherson easing over on the blind side after being spotted by scrum-half Roan Frostwick. The tricky conversion was again missed by Millar but this see-saw match, played in front of a healthy 1,235 spectators, had taken another turn.

Michael Liness was yellow carded for a high tackle on the hour and Lee Millar cashed in from 25 metres out by adding the three points to extend the lead to 25-17.

The hosts simply couldn’t get a foothold back into the game – a combination of profligacy and stellar Watsonians defence keeping the Goldenacre men scoreless in the second period.

Watsonians wrapped things up with ten minutes to go as hooker Cal Davies burst through a porous defence to hammer home the Myreside side’s advantage and Millar converted to put the game out of reach and keep Watsonians unbeaten after two rounds.

Full time: Heriot’s Rugby 17-32 Watsonians 

FOSROC Player of the Match: Joe Reynolds (Watsonians)

Referee: Keith Allan

Heriot’s Rugby: 1. Chris Keen 2. Ali Johnstone 3. Dan Gamble 4. Rhuaridh Leishman 5. Charlie Jupp 6. Jack Mann 7. Scott Riddell. 8. Ian Wilson © 9. Alex Ball 10. Stuart Edwards 11. James Spencer 12. Robert Kay 13. Scott Robeson 14. Jack Blain 15. Rory McMichael

Replacements: 16. Michael Liness 17. Josh Scott 18. Struan Cessford 19. Jason Hill 20. Callum Marshall 21. Andrew Simmers 22. Cameron Hutchison 23. Robbie Chalmers

Watsonians: 1. Harrison Courtney 2. Cal Davies 3. Nathan Borel 4. Brian Leitch, 5. Jamie Hodgson 6. James Miller 7. Connor Boyle 8. Morgan Inness 9. Roan Frostwick 10. Lee Millar © 11. Angus Guthrie 12. Joe Reynolds 13. Lewis Berg 14. Lomond MacPherson 15. Jamie Forbes

Replacements: 16. Campbell Wilson 17. Finn Hobbis 18. Jonny Gibson 19. Finlay Simpson 20. Michael Badenhorst 21. Murray Scott 22. Andrew Chalmers 23. Kody McGovern