| Borders Earn First Win |
The Borders |
22 - 20 |
Cardiff Blues |
| Netherdale Att: 2,140 |
| Referee: Olan Trevor |
| Friday 26th September 2003, 19:30 |
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| Borders recorded their first win of the season when an injury-time drop goal by outside-half Clark Laidlaw earned them a memorable 22-20 win over Cardiff. |
Just moments earlier, as the referee was calculating how much extra-time remained, Laidlaw was the villain as it was his infringement that lead to Nick Robinson kicking a penalty-goal that put Cardiff ahead for only the second time in the match
Cardiff took an early lead when full-back Donovan van Vuuren exploited a gap in the Borders defence to touch down, but the Borders were level within three minutes as Colin Stewart won a good lineout ball and captain Kevin Utterson was on hand to break through for Gareth Morton to convert.
There were early signs that this was to be a high scoring thriller, but handling errors and good defence form both sides kept the scores down to just two Morton penalties, split by a Robinson kick, taking the Borders into half-time with a 13-8 lead.
Robinson and Morton exchanged penalties early in the second half while Cardiff's Jamie Robinson missed the best chance when he dropped the ball with the line at his mercy.
But the best was yet to come, with the match drawing to a close, both sides pushed on to win the match.
With five minutes left, Nick MacLeod dropped a goal to cut the deficit and the Borders' hopes seemed to have gone when Robinson's fourth penalty put Cardiff ahead.
But the mood of the 2,000 crowd was vastly improved when Laidlaw's drop goal a minute later clinched victory for the home side.
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