Peeblesshire News | Sport | Biggar fall at final hurdle

Friday, 25th July, 2008

Published: Friday, 4th April, 2008 10:00

Biggar fall at final hurdle

By Al Stewart at Hartreemill

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A battle at the line-out during Saturday's match.

Pic by: Bob Tweedie

Biggar 0 v Selkirk 15

BIGGAR’S promotion hopes were eclipsed on Saturday in the mud and glaur of a packed Hartreemill.

The Border side never relented and in handling the conditions much better, denied Biggar the slightest sniff of their line whilst also managing not to concede one kickable penalty which might have given the Lanarkshire side some hope.

Biggar try and press the game but conditions didn't suit their style of play.

Pic by: Bob Tweedie.

In so doing, Selkirk joined West of Scotland who overcame a spirited Hillhead Jordanhill XV to take the Premier 2 Championship by just one point in gaining promotion to the top flight.

This was a massively disappointing finale for all concerned at Biggar RFC although after the obligatory post mortem the spirits were lifted with the realisation that this has of course been a hugely successful season for the Hartreemill side.

The players led by Aaron Collins have done exceptionally well to turn last season’s relegation dodgers into promotion challengers.

Ewan McAlpine (holiday) and Fraser Brown (neck injury) were the two main absentees from the Biggar squad while Selkirk named their traditional youthful side for what was an eagerly awaited climax to the season.

In preparation, the town had shown its support by displaying posters and banners and black and red balloons in shops.

Unfortunately, the weather conditions were horrendous and did much to spoil the game as a spectacle. Biggar are well used to such weather, but whereas in previous years a wet slippery park would have been seen as an advantage, the game Biggar have played so well this season has been on dry pitches where the pace of wingers Craig Parker and Chris McKeand among others has been maximised.

The result was that within 20 minutes many of the players, the pack particularly, were virtually unrecognisable and players were slipping and sliding across the mud. A change of jerseys did make a difference after half time but at Mr Heard’s final whistle the only distinguishing feature between the sides were the sets of white teeth punctuating the grey/black faces of the Selkirk XV. After some 14 seasons Selkirk were back in Premier 1 and no-one could take that from them.

It became apparent early on that this was not to be Biggar’s day. Douglas Notman’s opening drop kick start was blown out of the pitch and this set the tenor of the game, Biggar making errors a-plenty as they tried in vain to stem the very effective first up defence of the Selkirk side.

In five minutes centre Brian Cassidy (who had been absent at the time of the first encounter in August) put Selkirk ahead from a penalty awarded as Biggar defended their 22.

Some 20 minutes elapsed before the same player made it 6-0 from another penalty, it being clear that this was the most likely method of gaining points, the mud and wet making handling very difficult.

Eady Manawaiti found things much more difficult as Selkirk, having clearly marked him as a man to watch, double tackled him at every opportunity. The big man was rarely able to make a real break.

Opportunities to clear ball from their half were also thwarted such was the disruptive influence of the wind which seemed to favour Selkirk more in the first half than Biggar. At half time the big question on the lips of most present was whether a 6-0 scoreline would prove sufficient for Selkirk who were turning to face the elements.

With the wind dropping frustratingly at the start of the second half and with Selkirk themselves clear that 6 points was certainly not sufficient, another Cassidy penalty after two minutes of the half gave notice of their intent. For Biggar to get promotion, a 7 point gap had to be created between the sides so at this point Biggar required a speedy 17 point bag, but with little up to then suggesting that this indeed might be possible.

This inevitably led to frustration and desperation as the promotion prize looked ever more unlikely, one passage of hand-bags seeing Mr Heard address Ted Tauroa very severely before awarding Selkirk another penalty which Cassidy kicked for 12-0.

Still Biggar fought on, Kevin Anderson coming back on to replace Finlay Smith while Billy Scanlon, Michael McKeand and Conor Lavery came on for Alan Warnock, Craig Parker (head knock) and Notman. Selkirk had to replace their two props and with a third injured the last 10 minutes were played with uncontested scrums.

Neither side really looked like scoring a try, Selkirk coming closest but being repelled by some sound tackling in the Biggar 5m area. Cassidy kicked a 5th penalty for 15-0 and in contrast Biggar were never given a kick at goal all afternoon which meant that they returned a blank sheet for the first time in some three seasons.

Biggar—M. Thomson, C. McKeand, J. Sifa, D. Notman (C. Lavery 65mins), C. Parker (M. McKeand 70 mins), S. Muir, D. Reive,T. Tauroa, M. Rutherford, K. Anderson (F. Smith 30 mins/Anderson 55mins), A. Cairns, S. Coubrough, A. Warnock (W. Scanlon 65mins), J. Wright, E. Manawaiti (Capt).

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