GHK v Allan Glens RFC
Saturday 20th April 2013 at Old Anniesland

GHK welcomed our friends from Bishopbriggs, Allan Glens RFC for the final league fixture of the season at Old Anniesland. This was a rearranged game and the pre-evening festivities at Glens, in the form of a Johnny Cash tribute night, might not necessarily have been thought of as an ideal warm up. However, Glens conjured up their very own ring of fire, and before you could sing the first verse of Folsom Prison Blues, GHK found themselves fourteen points down as the visitors clicked into gear in double quick time. The fact that the home President had visited the GHK dressing room for a few words of encouragement before his last game as OA supremo could not possibly have accounted for some of the GHK lethargy, could it? Whatever the reason, after no more than ten minutes the visitors had laid down a fourteen point marker.

Thankfully, GHK awakened from their slumbers and managed to secure some possession, worked their way into Glens’ territory and, despite playing into a significant wind, started to put a wee bit of pressure on the visitors. After a few assaults, Pete Ritchie was driven over for an unconverted try. 14-5 to the visitors. Stand-off Rory Long took a knock and was struggling. This required an early change and Davie McKeown joined the fray with a bit of rearranging involving Scott Robertson and Gregor Hollerin.

Glens were keeping it simple and making good use of the wind. Their forwards gave them a pretty useful platform in the tight and some sensible kicking forced GHK to start any offensive moves from deep in their own territory. One such effort saw GHK take a tap in their own twenty two and some direct running took play deep in to the Glens’ half. A further few collisions created room for Danny Hoffmann, playing his last game as captain, to run a smart angle and power over for another try just after the half hour mark. Again the conversion slipped by.

The home side made a tactical change with Fraser Hastie replacing replacement Dave McKeown. Further good combinations from GHK kept the pressure on the visitors. Some smart play off a lineout on the GHK right created a bit of momentum and allowed Russell Johnstone to slide over for try number three for the hosts. The try was unconverted and half time arrived with GHK having the narrowest of leads at 15-14.

The second half was only four minutes old when GHK secured the bonus point with try number four scored by Gordi Reid after another sustained spell of pressure. The kicker’s curse continued as another conversion was passed up. GHK seemed to have got the message that the following wind provided ample opportunity to put play deep in the Glens’ half virtually at will. However, the next GHK try came from a break out initiated deep in their own half. Great handling by Hollerin, Hastie and Borthwick took play virtually the length of the field. When this was halted with the award of a scrum to Glens most watchers rightly assumed that the solid visiting pack would do the needful and cough up possession. However, a strike against the head, yes you read that correctly, a collector’s piece from Gordi Reid, gave Greg Woolard the chance to break and the shadow that is Mike Borthwick was on hand to finish off for try number five which scrum half Woolard duly converted. 27-14 to GHK.

Further tries from Fraser Hastie and Russell Johnstone, both converted by Greg Woolard, stretched the home lead to a level that probably reflected the hosts more effective strike power. Allan Glens continued to dig in and in the closing stages of the game they were rewarded when, from another break sparked by the visiting full back, a quick tap penalty saw the ball moved quickly through the hands and the visiting tight head crashed over under the posts. The conversion was the last act of another high scoring game at Anniesland.

Result GHK 41 Allan Glens 21

GHK Man of the match – Colin Neilson. Colin is a recent addition to the squad and has improved his level of performance in virtually every game. He had an outstanding eighty minutes against Glasgow Accies last week ( a game which GHK won in case you missed it). He has made a really significant contributions in all the matches he has played, and today, against a solid Glens eight, he more than held his own and was a robust presence in the loose.

In the lead up to the game, which was in the balance until only a few hours pre kick off, the ground staff at OA, that is to say Davy and his assistants, worked tirelessly to get the game on. Many thanks indeed to them for their efforts for this and throughout the season. They certainly rose to the challenge over the last few days.

It was another good performance, especially after the first ten, non tackling and generally not too interested, minutes. Once GHK had got out of first gear, some fine rugby was played. A decent crowd turned out to witness the last match of season 2012-13 at Anniesland. It was great to see so many friendly faces out to support the boys and the Club generally. Remember, it all starts again in a few months time, and we want all the support we can muster on and off the park.
OA is most definitely the place to be!

This article was posted on 21-Apr-2013, 14:52 by Hugh Barrow.