Currie progress in BT Cup with win over Watsonians

Currie secured a 31-0 win over local rivals Watsonians in the BT Cup to progress to the quarter-final stages of the competition. In muddy conditions at Malleny Park, the home side dominated the majority of play with Currie scoring twice for a 12-0 lead at the break. Currie went down to 14 men with Shaun Ruwers seeing red after half-time with Watsonians making use of the number advantage to build their attack.However, it was the home team who enjoyed the majority of possession in the final quarter, with three tries in quick succession securing victory over their BT National League 1 opponents.Currie captain, Ross Weston, said: “It was great to get the win as it’s been a difficult second half to the season with weather disrupting games.Watsonians were tough opponents in difficult conditions so it was good to get a challenging game and go through to the next round of the BT Cup.”The boys stuck in well after going 14 men down and it was a solid second-half performance from us.”Currie opened the scoring through Weston after pressurising the Watsonian defence from the outset, the number 8 taking the ball off the back of the scrum to crash over from metres out after five minutes.Harvey Elms, recently named in the Scotland Club XV squad to face England Counties next Friday, impressed in attack and combined well with Fidias Efthymiou and Ben Robbins down the left wing on several occasions.It was their link play which led to Currie’s second score of the game with a resulting line-out setting the platform for the driving maul through which Weston found his way to the line for his second.James Semple converted in difficult conditions after 17 minutes before mistakes from both sides halted the momentum of the game and brought a half-time score of 12-0.Minutes into the second-half, Ruwers received a red card after what appeared to be a stamping incident and Watsonians began to claim back possession to build a string of promising phases.The out-half partnership of Reiss Cullen and Andrew Chalmers combined effectively to penetrate Currie’s defence but costly errors further down the line halted scoring opportunities. Both sides rung the changes around the 50 minute mark to keep legs fresh in the mud and minutes later it was Currie who secured their third try.Richard Snedden darted for the line after pressure from the forwards, before Semple converted a tricky attempt not far in from the touchline.Replacement John Cox was the next name on the scoresheet after Currie went through the phases from the five metre line in the 64th minute.Currie maintained control of the game in the final ten minutes and managed to score once more, Thomas Gordon stretching his legs off the back of the scrum to run in left of the posts in the 72nd minute before Semple converted.Several exchanges between both teams rounded off the game with Currie impressing at home once again.Elsewhere in the third round BT Cup draw, BT National League 1 side Jed-Forest narrowly missed out on causing last season’s BT Premiership champions an upset with the Borders side losing 20-19.BT National League 3 table toppers GHK caused trouble at home to defeat this season’s BT Premiership outfit Selkirk 21-7 to progress.Cartha Queens Park defeated Aberdeenshire 25-20 on the road, Dundee HSFP overcame Falkirk 27-19 at home and GHA were winning 26-18 visitors to Biggar.The BT Cup Border derby between Hawick and Melrose was postponed along with Stirling County’s hosting of Ayr due to weather conditions.  Currie: Harvey Elms; Cameron Gray, Fidias Efthymiou, Robbie Nelson, Ben Robbins; James Semple, Richard Snedden; Shaun Ruwers, Graeme Carson, Alistair Hamilton, Mike Vernel, Stephen Ainslie, Luke Crosbie, Travis Brooke, Ross Weston CAPTAIN. Replacements: Matt Goodwin, John Cox, Hamish Bain, Thomas Gordon, Charlie Sheil.Watsonians: Alasdair Davidson; Mark Bertram, Scott McLean, D J Innes, Jack Ferguson; Andrew Chalmers, Reiss Cullen; Nathan Borel, Tom Johnson, Craig Watters, Romain Denonain, Callum Harvey, Dylan Rowe, Ewan Millar, Rory Drummond. Replacements: Darren Miller, Dave Keenan, Matt Coles, Ali Harris, Gregor Tait.