Borders secure rare win
Borders 19 Edinburgh 10
Edinburgh’s quest to complete the festive derby double was wrecked as Borders left them stunned for the second season on the trot.
The Gunners had aimed to carry on where they left off against Glasgow at Murrayfield in a bid to build a launchpad for success in 2005.
But ex-capital aces Ally Warnock and Tom McGee emerged as the home heroes at Netherdale as the Celtic League’s bottom side secured a 19-10 victory.
Warnock put them in front with a late drop-goal – then McGee denied Edinburgh a consolation bonus point with a dramatic try in the eighth minute of added time.
Borders looked the hungrier outfit during the opening sparring session with scrum-half Chris Custier marking his return from injury with two powerful charges.
First, the Scotland star released breakaway forward Mark Blair only for the move to collapse when he tried to veer infield.
Cusiter was then unlucky not to score when the ball was knocked from his grasp as he was about to plunge over.
Having weathered the early storm, Edinburgh worked their way back into the contest and edged in front midway through the half.
The Borders defence was pressured into giving away a penalty 30 metres from the target and Brendan Laney, declared fit after shaking off the effects of an eye problem, made no mistake from the tricky angle.
The home troops hit back positively, however, with Charlie Hore confidently banging over two penalties in quick succession.
Between his strikes, Gunners should have set up a try in the wake of Scott Gray’s restart spill.
But Laney’s pass to Paul Boston was poorly directed and the knock-on gave the Borders a reprieve.
Laney made ample amends in the build-up to the break when he bagged the all-important first touchdown.
Borders lost their own line-out 10 metres from the line, Laney side-stepped Warnock – then outstripped Simon Danielli before adding the conversion himself.
Edinburgh suffered a setback six minutes after the restart when prop Allan Jacobsen was ordered to the sin bin as referee Rob Dickson ruled he had used a fist in the middle of a ruck.
Borders stepped up the pace and thought they had created a rolling-maul try, but Dickson insisted the ball had been held up.
And their frustration deepened when they lost possession at the resulting danger-zone scrummage.
The disappointment spurred them on to an even greater effort level and the match was blown wide open in the space of two minutes.
After a sustained spell of pressure, Hore reduced the leeway to a single point with his third penalty.
Edinburgh’s jitters were obvious as they sent the restart kick straight out of play, handing the initiative back to the locals.
And they patiently strung together a series of phases before Warnock sent over a pinpoint drop goal.
In the tense finale, Laney’s drop-goal attempt crashed against the post – and then came McGee’s moment of magic which finally snuffed out his former team-mates.
