Peeblesshire News | Sport | Peebles three-try burst shocks Fifers

Friday, 5th December, 2008

Published: Friday, 15th December, 2006 11:25

Peebles three-try burst shocks Fifers

On a remarkably well-grassed Gytes playing surface, it was the second quarter of Saturday’s highly physical, thrill-a-minute encounter that proved the undoing of Peebles’ high-flying visitors from Fife.

For it was then that the mid-table home side, hellbent – as broadly smiling tight-head Neil Clark later put it - “on excising the memory of September’s McKane park defeat” – thrice crossed the visitors’ line through Duncan MacDonald, Neil Hogarth and Trevor Keen to lead at halftime by fifteen points to nil.

Not that team manager Bob Hogarth will be interested in seeing individual names:

“I could mention Ollie Fahey who had a huge game for us against Dunfermline, but it’s difficult to single anyone out when today’s result was very much down to a superb performance by the whole team - And long may such displays continue!”

Bob went on, “I said early season that with us having to make so many changes, it would take time for the new team to settle. So it has proved and now we have a settled team that’s won seven of our last 8 Premiership games.”

“We’re playing some decent rugby as well,” he continued, “Particularly today in the first half. After the break, we still enjoyed most of the territory but tackled extremely well when we had to.”

“Our opponents didn’t trouble us too much though they did manage to score after the interval, and if we’d kicked some of our goals we’d have won more comfortably.”

Added Coach Bruce Macnaughton, “It was a great win but we’ve still got a fault to put right: With the score at 15-10 our attitude was too much of a case of “What do we have to do to avoid losing this game?” rather than saying “Let’s put ther game out of sight of the opposition.”

“As to Craig Borthwick’s poor kicking record today, it’s important to remember that he saved us more points with his tackling than he gave away with missed kicks.”

In an all-Peebles opening five minutes, Harvey and Borthwick caught the eye from the kick-off prior to Farmer’s intelligent linking play (a feature throughout the game) as he burst upfield from Anderson’s penalty touch and MacNish’s line-out take.

Also prominent at this stage were No 3 Clark in driving mode and right wing, the lively Moffat. A replacement from the start for flu victim Thomson, the No 14 looked far more like his old self.

Dunfermline having almost snatched the lead with a 10th-minute penalty effort, only Hogarth’s try-saving tackle prevented his opposite number from doing so only seconds later.

Back came Peebles however through Rodger’s touchline catch, Fahey’s drive and Anderson’s link with Hogarth, MacDonald and the energetic McKinnon.

Recycled ball saw Hamer, Anderson and Skipper Clark combine to feed the industrious Smellie, but a thrilling passage of continuity play was halted by an infringement deep in enemy territory.

Peebles’ first try – their 50th of the current Premier league campaign – followed soon after however when a great Hamer hit won the homesters a scrum and possession on the Fifers 22.

Though MacDonald was half-tackled ten yards out, the big centre’s momentum carried himover to give Peebles a 5-0 lead after 20 minutes.

With Clark the Elder now in defensive mode with a series of textbook hits and Keen coming on at hooker, both Moffat and A. Clark went close to scoring.

However, following the yellow-carding of the Dunfermline hooker and the home skipper’s replacement by Thatcher, Fahey failed with an attempted pushover try but not so left winger Hogarth who profited from pack drives sucking in the cover plus Farmer’s creation of an overlap by racing over at the corner to put Peebles 10-0 up with 32 minutes gone.

Then, with Referee Rab McHenry (Dumfries) about to blow for halftime, a superb passage of handling and multiple recycling culminated in yet another Farmer intrusion and a fifth Premiership try of the season for Trevor the Tree-mendous:

A courageous Hamer tackle on giant Fife lock Patrick typified Peebles’ early second-half defence. But Keen’s subsequent sin-binning proved the prelude to the Dunfermline No 5’s try, ex-Jed centre Richards’ conversion narrowing the gap to 7-15 after only 47 minutes.

Back to full strength, Peebles held sway territorially until the 62nd minute when a Richards penalty reduced the visitors’ arrears to 10-15.

Despite a series of penalty misses, the Gytes men at no stage lost concentration on their defensive chores. Even when Hogarth’s soft sin-binning depleted Peebles’ ranks, the barrage of home hits continued unabated.

While replacement Whelan contributed his fair share, so to did late sub D.A. Anderson who celebrated his late call-up to the left wing with a thumping tackle below a noisily appreciative Gytes Gallery.

PEEBLES : C. Farmer, A. Moffat, D. MacDonald and C. Borthwick, N. Hogarth,

D.W. Anderson and R. Hamer; A. Clark (C. Thatcher 30 – 75), G McKinnon (T.Keen 25),

N. Clark (A. Clark captain 40 – 66), D. Harvey and R. MacNish, S Smellie (P. Whelan 56, D.A. Anderson 77), O. Fahey, I. Rodger (P. Whelan 38, G. McKinnon46).

Peebles 15 Dunfermline 10

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