Chieftains assistant coach, Gregor Hunter, conceded that errors at key moments had contributed to the outcome and that was a source of annoyance for the visitors.

“We were kind of frustrated with the way we played in the first half. We felt we didn’t really keep the ball very well and made a lot of mistakes, but we did some good things to be in the game at half-time,” he said. “We felt after half-time that we started to build a bit of momentum and we got in front. But just a couple of errors gave Watsonians momentum again and they made the most of it.”

The match was still finely poised after an hour, but a yellow-card for Gregor Christie, the Chieftains scrum-half, handed the hosts an opportunity that they seized to build a winning lead. Until that point it had been a tight affair that featured plenty of open rugby from both teams.

The first scoring opportunity fell the home side’s way but foundered on a knock-on. They came close again a couple of minutes later but the attack on the edge of the Chieftains 22 was foiled by an interception from Christie.

The hosts resumed their pressure and a Chieftains knock-on at a defensive scrum handed the initiative back to Watsonians. This time they converted the pressure into points when Luis Ball capped a multi-phase attack by crashing over between the sticks for a try which Andy McLean converted.

Another scoring opportunity went begging and Chieftains were fortunate to be only seven points in arrears at the end of the first quarter. And they then capped their best period of the half with the equalising score.

Alex Harley raced into the home 22 and with the home defenders drifting wide, the Chieftains stand-off cut inside into space and sprinted over before adding the extras from in front of the posts.

Watsonians responded with another spell of pressure that yielded a penalty which McLean stroked over to give his side a three-point lead at half-time.

Chieftains took the lead for the first time four minutes after the restart. A penalty to touch created the platform for Sam Cardosi to make ground and deliver a perfectly timed pass to Ed Hasdell who powered over to touch down, with Harley adding the extras.

The visitors looked more adventurous in attack than they had done in the opening 40 minutes, but the Watsonians defence was resolute and quick off the mark to quell Chieftains’ ambition. And they also showed the pace in their back-three to stretch the Chieftains defence.

They picked up a penalty for a deliberate knock-on that earned Christie his yellow card, and the ensuing lineout was the launchpad for a string of attacks that ended with Stu Allison plunging over to hand the home side a single-point lead.

The gap grew a couple of minutes later after another penalty was despatched to touch inside the Chieftains 22. Kwagga van Niekerk took a pass and angled his run to stretch the defence and offload to Allison who hammered his way over for a second time. McLean’s conversion extended the lead to eight points.

A successful penalty by Harley with 10 minutes to go reduced the deficit to bonus point territory and set up a tense finale. Chieftains threw all they had at the Watsonians defence, but the hosts held firm to clinch what could be a crucial win.

 

Teams –

Watsonians: A McLean; L Macpherson, R Kerr, D Coetzer, H Fisher; C Bell, B Young; D Voas, B Cooper, H McRobbie, K Watt, A McInnes, L Ball, S Allison, K van Niekerk©. Subs used: T Gray, C Murphy, F Donaldson, F Stewart, H Stewart, M Scott, L Jamieson.

Currie Chieftains: E Crombie; R Daley, D Innes, S Robeson, M Laidlaw; A Harley, G Christie; C Anderson, R Stewart, G Scougall, C West, A Bain, S Cardosi, A Fletcher, E Hasdell. Subs used: E McCallum, T Jeffrey, N Thompson, A Hoggarth, R Morrison, A McCall, A Duncan.

Referee: Ian Kenny

 

Scorers –

Watsonians: Tries: Ball, Allison 2; Cons: McLean 2; Pens: McLean.

Currie Chieftains: Tries: Harley, Hasdell; Cons: Harley 2; Pens: Harley.

Scoring sequence (Watsonians first): 5-0; 7-0; 7-5; 7-7; 10-7 (h-t) 10-12; 10-14; 15-14; 20-14; 22-14; 22-17.

 

Yellow cards –

Currie Chieftains: Christie

 

Player-of-the-match: Sam Cardosi and Alex Harley were big contributors for Chieftains while, in the home ranks, Lomond Macpherson was solid under the high ball and Andy McLean was astute in his decision making. However, the man who secured the win was Stu Allison, who defended solidly and contributed the vital touchdowns.

Talking point: These sides are likely to meet again at the play-off stage. If they continue to play ambitious rugby and evolve over the coming weeks, that could be a cracking encounter.