Tennent’s Premier League – Match 3: 17.9.22

Heriot’s 12 pts (t 2, c 1) v Currie Chieftains 50 pts (t 8, c 5)

As players and spectators stood in respectful silence at Goldenacre to mark the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth, a chilly northern breeze suggested that autumn had arrived. Following the postponement of all rugby fixtures last weekend, a degree of rustiness was evident for the first 15 minutes of this contest, but a strong Heriot’s start made the most of some early Chieftains’ blunders and they took a deserved lead. Their converted corner-flag try certainly excited the sparse crowd, and an intercepted pass could have added more embarrassment if Charlie Brett had not executed a try-saving tackle, or if Chris Anderson had not made a critical turnover when Currie looked vulnerable.

It was well into the second quarter before the Chieftains started to threaten Heriot’s goal line. Both Cody Roman and Rhys Davies repeatedly broke through the defensive wall and ploughed forward. But for a foot in touch, Kody McGovern would have opened the visitors’ account. On the half-hour, a period of forward pressure was finally rewarded with an unconverted try for Ryan Stewart, and during the next ten minutes the visitors effectively dominated possession and territory. An alert Rhys Davies took a quick tap-penalty, the outcome of which was a try for Ewan Stewart who crashed over from the resulting 5 metre driving maul; Sam Letto converted.

Although Heriot’s defended well, they were finding it difficult to clear their lines and move to safer ground. When Charlie Brett gathered a high ball, he careered through the advancing traffic to link with Rhys Davies whose well-timed pass sent Cammy Meager bustling to the corner flag. The score was not converted, but minutes later Sam Leto did add the extras to Cairn Ramsey’s well-taken try which followed Ryan Stewart’s stomping run to give the visitors a rather unexpected try-bonus point by the break.

Halftime score – Heriot's 7 pts, Currie Chieftains 24 pts.  

The start of the second half was considerably delayed by a serious injury to a player on the adjacent pitch for whom an ambulance was needed. With the wind now in Heriot’s favour, they soon made ground and blazed a path to the Chieftains’ line. The try was not converted, but their early bluster was only short-lived before Currie again took control. Waves of fast open rugby stretched the home defence with the ball whizzing about deep inside Heriot’s red-zone. Paddy Boyer directed a series of rolling mauls which sucked in the opposition, and from 20 metres out, he darted down the blindside to neatly put Ally McCallum in space for a saunter to the line. The difficult conversion was missed, but Sam Leto was on target with three more tries for the excellent Cairn Ramsey, as well as Kody McGovern and Joe Halliday, all of them coming from a well-drilled team whose pack was dominating in all departments.

The opposition were now struggling for any possession, but their tackling and commitment was commendable. Cairn Ramsey and his front row colleagues all had noteworthy games. It was also good to see the club’s captain, Michael Vernel back in action after a long layoff. It may have taken a little while for the Chieftains to get their game into gear, and there are still some rough edges for the coaching team to improve on, but after three rounds of the new campaign, Currie Chieftains are building firm foundations and setting standards for the tough weeks which lie ahead.

We return to Malleny Park next weekend for an interesting match against a young, ambitious GHA team whose speedy backs could cause problems for the home side; kick-off is at 3.00pm. Lunch will be served at 1.00pm; details for ordering lunch tickets are on the Currie Chieftains’ website.

I.J.S. - 18.9.22.

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