West of Scotland 47 – 0 GHK


The first round draw of the BT Shield competition placed old adversaries West of Scotland and Glasgow High Kelvinside together for the first time since Glasgow Hawks were formed. The rivalry dates back to the 1880’s according to some but the days where the teams played on a relatively even level are gone with West challenging at the top of Premier 3 and GHK in National League 5, a full 6divisions apart.


GHK are flying high with a 100% league record and a win against higher opposition Newton Stewart in round 2 of the cup and an unlucky defeat to Edinburgh Accies in round 3, which forced GHK into the Shield competition. Unfortunately, GHK went into the game vs West with poor preparation with no training able to be done through the week due to the terrible weather and a spate of injuries which left the back division missing influential players Olly Jones, Cammy Little, Stuart Hunter and Chuck McEllroy but the back line that took the field could grace any other national league team and with the GHK pack at full strength, the Old Anniesland men hoped of causing an upset.


That hope continued until the 60th minute. Up until that point, GHK had showed the hosts that National league 5 was not where GHK should be with an outstanding first half performance which saw GHK hold West to one single score, 7-0. The score came from a break down the right hand side when a defensive error let the West right-winger in for a score. GHK were playing with tremendous commitment and pride and a great defensive effort kept West out. Some notable hits by Jamie Millan, Nick Cram and former West player Colin Donald had some wondering if West were going to break through again.


It was not all defence for GHK and some good breaks were made by Gillon Rand and Ali Smeaton that must have had the West supporter’s hearts racing, but some good cover defence foiled the attacks. At half time the GHK players still had the belief that they could pull off a major upset if they could keep the defence tight and maybe have a bit more ambition with ball in hand.


The defence held firm for a period in the 2nd half again with Colin Donald to the fore but West’s superior fitness and their considerably bigger pack took over and they eventually broke the defence and GHK hearts with a score from a catch and drive. After that, on a very heavy pitch, the floodgates opened with a number of tries. Scorers included Fraser Sinclair, Dave Young, Steven O’Donnell and Jamie Kerr with O’Donnell kicking superbly at goal. GHK defended for the entire 2nd half and with West’s fitness coach being the former Scotland and British Lions fitness coach Dave McLean, it was no wonder West were able to keep going whilst GHK legs became heavy.


GHK players, coaches and committee were extremely proud of their performance and felt that they had earned the respect of the premier 3 opponents. West now go forward in the shield as favourites for the competition and rightly so. On the pitch West won the game but according to some, GHK won convincingly in the bar after the game.

GHK now look to the main priority of the league from now on and with a difficult run in over the next couple of months the players need to be on top form and Saturday’s performance against West can only stand them in good stead. Hillhead are the opponents travelling the short distance to Old Anniesland and GHK will be hoping for a similar result to their 62-3 victory earlier in the season.


GHK team: Rand, Love, Smeaton, Souter, McTavish, Millan, McFarlane, Forbes, Reid, Welsh, Cram, Ferguson, Donald, McKinven, Pollock, Broadbent, Stewart, Lohar, Ross.

Man of the match: Colin Donald

This article was posted on 23-Jan-2006, 15:45 by Hugh Barrow.