Glasgow Accies start the season off to a good win!
by Andrew Brown
On a bright and blustery day at New Anniesland’s top ground (due to cricket being played on the main pitch) the gathered spectators watched on as a young, new look Accies side took the field against a much heavier looking Kilmarnock outfit.

This young side, with 8 new recruits and tutored by a new coaching team led by John Couper started the game with a positive attitude and showed some real ambition to play attractive entertaining rugby. Early season mishandles somewhat disrupted the game but Accies ambition and skill were rewarded when their new and exciting full back Ross Cowan finished off some good handling by touching down under the posts, 7-0. Those around this scribe were obviously enjoying the rugby being played by the new look Accies side but we all know that Kilmarnock are never an easy side to play against and they duly capitalised on a couple of early season errors from Accies to score a good try to level the points at 7-7. This was definitely the first game of the season as both sides found it difficult to create continuity due to handling errors and the game was broken up by too many penalties. However Accies were constantly looking to put pressure on the opposition and this paid off when they were awarded a penalty just outside the Kilmarnock 22 which was quickly taken and two passes later another of our exciting new players, No5 Kiran Seran raced over under the posts. Score 14-7. With time up for the first half, Kilmarnock were awarded a penalty which they converted to give a half time score of 14-10.

Kimarnock kicked off the second half with their tails up and put Accies under real pressure. Some good handling by their backs and a clever pass by their stand-off put the winger in at the corner thus putting them into the lead for the first (and only) time at 14-15. This was the moment to see what this new look Accies side was made of and from the kick off they showed us. A long kick was followed up at speed by our new hooker Ker Malcolm and under pressure Kilmarnock were forced to give away a 5 metre scrum. From the resulting scrum No8 Beattie picked up and fed the lively scrum half Ben Frame who drew the remaining defence to put winger Angus MacCallum in at the corner. A great response and a turning point in the game, 19-15, as Accies now turned on the pressure and showed some real skill and commitment. Good handling and support work, including off loads, once again put our athletic new No5, Kiran, in space and not requiring a second invitation, he beat several defenders to run 30 yards in under the posts, score 26-15. The injured Harry Walker, a major contributor to this first game, was then substituted by Jamie Watson. Jamie, determined to take his chance, immediately put down a marker and taking a beautifully timed pass from fellow centre Graham Bryden, raced through the desperate cover defence to score a superb try to 33 -15. The confidence was now showing in the players and their game plan and further good handling and support work produced a gap that the exciting talent that is Ross Cowan, seized upon and ran fully 30 metres to score under the posts, 40-15. However as Accies found out you can never take your foot off the peddle and Kilmarnock will always come back at you up to the final whistle and their efforts were rewarded with a late try to produce a final result of 40-20.

This was most definitely an encouraging start to the season from this young, new and exciting team, who I am sure feel that there is even more to come, and if the comments that were ringing around the crowd were anything to go by this is a side that has all the potential do produce some really good and exciting rugby that will be well worth the entry fee to N.A. to watch.

Our next home game is against GHK on September 14th and I would encourage everyone to get along to N.A. and support them.

This article was originally posted on 2-Sep-2013, 06:17 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 2-Sep-2013, 10:17.