Biggar pipped at the post in race for second spot

Apr 2 2008

WHEN the dust settled on the Scottish Hydro-Electric Premier 2 championship on Saturday, Biggar were on the outside looking in, following this defeat at Hartree Mill.

West of Scotland’s 24-3 win over Hillhead/Jordanhill won them the title, while relegating the Glaswegians.

Selkirk’s win in this disappointing encounter also saw them go up in second place, while Biggar remain in Premier 2.

However, this hasn’t been a disappointing season for Biggar by any manner of means, given that they were very nearly relegated last term.

That Selkirk won this disappointing encounter without scoring a single try is another small consolation, although Biggar delivered a blank scoresheet for the first time in three seasons.

On the day, Selkirk were relentless and better positioned to handle the wet conditions, denying Biggar the slightest glimpse of their line, while managing not to concede a single kickable penalty.

It quickly became apparent that this wasn’t to be Biggar’s day when Douglas Notman’s opening drop-kick was blown out of the pitch.

Brian Cassidy put Selkirk ahead with a penalty in five minutes and 20 minutes later the same player was on target again for 6-0.

By this juncture, it was clear that this was the most likely method of gaining points and there were few real chances to warm the sizeable crowd, so the half ended at 6-0 to the visitors.

Two minutes into the second period, Cassidy stretched Selkirk’s advantage with another penalty for 9-0.

Nothing was going right for Biggar, with Notman’s drop restart failing to go the required 10 metres, Murray Thomson’s prod up the line going straight out, and Junior Sifa and Chris McKeand dropping the ball when they were on the verge of breaching the Selkirk defence.

This led to frustration as promotion looked increasingly unlikely, and one unsavoury incident saw the referee address Ted Tauroa severely before awarding Selkirk a penalty, which Cassidy slotted for 12-0.

Neither side looked like scoring a try and although Selkirk went closest, they were repelled by strong defence.

Cassidy kicked a fifth penalty for 15-0, which was enough to secure victory and a deserved promotion.

Biggar still have something to play for, however, with a Scottish Hydro-Electric Cup quarter-final against Premier 1 high-fliers Watsonians in Edinburgh. Kick-off is at 3pm.

l Biggar will go into next season’s Premier 2 campaign minus Eady Manawaiti, who is set to return to New Zealand after nine years in Scottish rugby.