Steve Lawrie: Every match now a cup tie for Watsonians

Rory Hutton of Watsonians bursts through to score a try. Pic: Neil Hanna

Lawrie’s men left it late to score the winning points in a 29-24 victory at home to Boroughmuir that seals a BT Cup semi-final spot.

Next on the agenda for ‘Sonians will be another clash with the same opponents, this time at Meggetland on BT Premiership duty, with both having much at stake at opposite ends of the table.

“The cup is an exciting thing to try and win. Next week is another cup match”, Lawrie said. “I feel like we have been playing cup rugby since the game against Melrose because we gave ourselves so much to do.”

Sonians made a fine start to Saturday’s match with tries from Rory Hutton and Michael Allen, both converted by Ali Harris, who also kicked a penalty. However, by half time, ‘Muir were back in the game having scored a try by Grant McConnell, which Chris  Laidlaw converted.

Greg Cannie touched down for the visitors early in the second half and, although Rory Drummond responded, a second score for Cannie and a converted touchdown by Euan McKirdy squared matters and looked to have set up extra time. However, James Miller was the hero for the hosts with a touchdown deep in injury time that clinched the victory.

“That’s two years in a row we’ve been beaten with the last touch of the ball,” was the painful assessment of visiting coach Peter Wright. “Two soft tries in the first half just killed us. From then on I thought we played pretty well.”

Edinburgh Accies bowed out of the competition but their  disappointment at a 22-15  defeat away to Stirling County offered the consolation of  confirming that the Raeburn Place side can compete against top-flight opposition.

A Richard Mill penalty left Accies 15-3 arrears at half-time. But tries from Matt Coupar and Max Love, the latter converted by Mill, squared matters and set up a tense finish. However, they didn’t manage to pull it off as a late try for the hosts consigned  Accies to a cup exit.

“To lose by a last-minute try we can take something from this game into the rest of our season,”said head coach Derek O’Riordan.