BT Premiership: Currie secure first win with last minute show

Currie secured their first win of the BT Premiership season in fine 27-24 style with a last-minute try against Stirling County at Malleny Park.In the dying minutes, Ben Cairns’ men produced several valiant attacks through midfield which resulted in scrum-half Charlie Shiel racing over before Jamie Forbes added the extras to snatch victory.  Currie Captain, Ross Weston, said: We’re absolutely delighted to get the first win, the guys have been working really hard and we’ve been unlucky during the last three weeks. To snatch it in the last minute was a great relief, Stirling were very unlucky and they played really well but the boys stuck in for the full 80 minutes and we got there. The opening stages told a different story with Stirling County taking the initiative early on, the County forwards piling on the pressure in the loose to create space for a darting Ross Jones to find his way over before the 20-minute mark and with Jonny Hope converting. Currie responded with a successful penalty attempt from Jamie Forbes and it was Graeme Carson who later barged through the defence from close range to put Currie in front.However, County fought back with a score from Fraser Lyle following Alex Taylor who intercepted a pass from Forbes, before Hope added the extras.Ross Jones then cemented County’s lead before the interval, nailing a penalty from 55 metres to secure a 17-8 visiting lead at half-time.Currie came out firing after the break, Forbes taking a penalty quickly to race down the right touchline to dive in at the corner, only to be deemed in touch. However, the host’s optimism was soon dashed following the binning of Dan Marek.County capitalised through Adam Nicol who received from Jake Creswell in midfield before stretching the lead for the visitors with Hope slotting the points.Currie never gave up fighting and were in once again after Fergus Scott found Thomas Gordon with a neat chip through the defence. Cameron Gray was next on the score sheet for the Malleny men, Forbes finding the winger on the inside ball before converting.In the dying minute, Currie looked to have claimed victory with a dot down from Gray over in the left corner but a raised flag signaled in touch and returned possession to County. A misjudged lineout from the visitors presented ball to Currie before several phases found the pace of Shiel for the winning score.Forbes converted to cement Currie’s achievement and Malleny’s first win of the BT Premiership season. Currie: Harvey Elms; Chris Davies, Richie Vernon, Robbie Nelson, Cameron Gray; Jamie Forbes, Charlie Shiel; AP McWilliam, Fergus Scott, Jarrod Firth, Hamish Bain, Stephen Ainslie, Rhys Davies, Thomas Gordon, Ross Weston CAPTAIN. Replacements: Graeme Carson, John Cox, Dan Marek, David Hall, Richard Snedden.Stirling County: Jonny Hope CAPTAIN; Craig Pringle, Jake Cresswell, Fraser Lyle, Bruce Sorbie; Ross Jones, Nemia Kenatale; Colin Hutton, Reyner Kennedy, Adam Nicol, Hamilton Burr, Adam Sinclair, Ruairidh Leishman, Shaun McDonald, Alex Taylor. Replacements: Matt Emmison, Mark Hunter, Struan Robertson, Ryan Elliston, Matt Donaldson.Referee: Dunx McClement