Nov
12
Boroughmuir Bears 55; Heriots 3rd XV 26
The Bears had a week off from league duty but managed to squeeze in a friendly with Heriots 3rd XV on Saturday. Fixtures against the Nails are a rare thing these days for the Bears, so the squad were full of enthusiasm for the match.
The Bears benefited from a few 2nd team regulars in their squad, including front-row duo Jonny Latta and Stuart Clark, and half-backs Scott Richards and Iain Martin, with the latter starting at inside centre.
The game was played at a furious pace and the Bears took the lead after some great inter-play between the backs and the forwards. Andy Clark touched down to add to his impressive tally for this season and in doing so created an even bigger gap between him and his brother Stuart in the try scoring stakes!
The Bears backs added a score soon after, with outside centre Cammy Leask crashing the ball up well and then providing a “Sonny-Bill” style offload to his centre partner Iain Martin who used his size to power over the Heriots line.
Heriots came back into the match and capitalised on some loose play from the Bears, scoring two converted tries in quick succession stealing the lead from the Bears momentarily.
The Bears were able to claim a further two tries in the first half but unfortunately neither the match reporter, nor the coaching team can remember who they were. Answers on a postcard please!
Heriots also hit back but the Bears held a narrow lead at half-time. Towards the end of the first half, the heavens had opened, so Coach Kev asked his team to tighten the game up and play the conditions in his half-time talk.
Although the Bears conceded an early second half try, it was largely one way traffic in the last forty minutes. The forwards played a better tight game and used their ball carriers like Jonny Latta, Andrew Wildgoose and Andy Hood to better effect. The backs also tightened up their play, only going wide when they had overlaps.
Second half try scorers included full-back James Armstrong who finished from long-range, Andrew Wildgoose who used his size to flop over from close-in and replacement wing Luke Worthington who showed great pace and power to link up with the centres and score a text book wingers try. Iain Martin nailed some very difficult conversions in the second half to extend the final score. The Bears ran out comfortable winners 55-26.
This was a satisfying friendly win for the Bears and helps carry on the momentum of the previous weeks wins in to this weekends away league fixture against RHC 2nd XV. It’s always a tough place to go and play but the Bears can be confident of carrying on their winning ways.
15. James Armstrong, 14. Elliot Wynn-Higgins, 13. Cameron Leask 12. Iain Martin, 11. Chris O’Neill, 10. Chris Evans, 9. Scott Richards , 8. Andy Hood, 7. Matty Walker, 6. Myles Skirving, 5. Andy Clark, 4. Rod Hutchison (c), 3. Andrew Wildgoose, 2. Stuart Clark, 1. Jonny Latta
Replacements: Luke Worthington, Chaz Campbell, Kev Robertson
