Biggar 17
Selkirk 20
Trailing 17-3 in the second half, it looked as though Selkirk’s chances of ending their four-match losing streak were slim.
However, a spirited fightback saw the visitors run out winners
Souters head coach Brian Cassidy said after the final whistle: “The players’ commitment was first class and demonstrated that there’s no such thing as a ‘meaningless fixture’. Pulling on a Selkirk jersey is always special.”
The early omens didn’t look good for the visitors, with Darren Clapperton suffering an accidental leg injury in the warm-up which ruled him out of the game. His place went to Rory Banks, which meant Ross Nixon staying on the pitch despite having broken his thumb.
It was the home side who struck first, referee Colin Reavely awarding a penalty try and Amo Wilbore adding the conversion. Banks cut the deficit from a well-judged penalty, but Wilbore replied in similar fashion.
Hardly had the whistle blown for the start of the second half than Biggar stretched their lead to 14 points. A raking kick to Selkirk’s left-hand corner saw the visitors fail to clear their lines, and turnover ball allowed Gary Lowrie to sprint over for an opportunist try. Wilbore’s conversion put Biggar firmly in control at 17-3.
Entering the final 10 minutes of the match, Selkirk secured line-out ball through Andrew Renwick, and from the rolling maul Angus Duckett was able to peel away and score the visitors’ first try. Banks’ successful conversion cut the deficit to 17-10. Then Gavin Craig offloaded to Matt Kissick, who managed to scramble over for Selkirk. Banks’ conversion tied the scores at 17-17.
With the match moving into injury time, Fraser Harkness’ surging break down the right touchline was kept alive by Scott Hendrie, and at the next ruck Banks stepped back into the pocket to take Mikey Davies’ pass and send over the match-winning drop goal.