Edinburgh relegated by St Andrews in survival thriller

Edinburgh vs. St Andrews

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The University of Edinburgh were relegated from Division 1 of the BUSA Scottish Conference after losing away to St Andrews in the vital closing match of the campaign. A simple second half try was enough to dash Edinburgh’s hopes and send them down on goal difference.

Victory or even a narrow defeat would have been enough for Edinburgh to stay up, but they produced a poor performance and St Andrews, spurred on in the rain by their passionate home crowd, dominated the match from start to finish. Two first half penalty kicks by scrum half Gareth McKonigle were the only points scored for Edinburgh, and that kept them in the game until half time, but then a try by St Andrews sub Luke Codrington and a penalty soon after secured victory and survival for the opposition.

Edinburgh’s demise began in the 37th minute. A scuffed kick from the St Andrew’s winger wasn’t properly dealt with, the ball ran loose and Peter Wiper, the St Andrew’s flanker, came bursting in to kick and chase for the tryline. Edinburgh winger Mo Middleton raced back to try and get there first, but the bounce of the ball narrowly eluded his desperate dive and Wiper went over under the posts to score. Gordon Stevenson duly converted to put St Andrews 7-3 up. The try had certainly been long in coming; St Andrews had spent most of the first half inside the Edinburgh twenty-two, piling the pressure on the visiting team.

Then St Andrews struck again 12 minutes into the second half through super-sub Codrington’s efforts down the right wing. Just yards from the Edinburgh line, they worked it wide neatly for an easy try and made it 12-6: a big enough gap to ensure survival. With victory in sight, St Andrews held on to the ball well in the remaining quarter of the game and Edinburgh, clearly frustrated, were often penalised in their illegal attempts to reclaim possession. One such attempt led to a penalty for St Andrews in the 72nd minute which winger James Mckinnel kicked home to make it 15-6 and effectively send Edinburgh into Division 2.

The margin of victory could have been much greater for St Andrews. Their first choice kicker Stevenson missed three penalties in a row during the first 25 minutes, and his hamstring injury just before halftime took him out of the game. It is just as well for Edinburgh, who were consistently penalised by the referee for their infringements at the ruck and coming in from an offside position. Handling errors were frequent on a rainy, gloomy afternoon and this helped to limit Edinburgh’s embarrassment, most notably when the ball slipped through Mckinnel’s fingers with the tryline gaping in the 65th minute.

After winning the SUSA championship for the last six seasons, relegation will be hard to stomach for Edinburgh. They won in the dance-off with the Lacrosse team on the coach home; but, other talents aside, their lacklustre performance on the rugby field means playing in a lower division next year.

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