Dear Diary,
Before the game on Saturday promotion was in the air and the feeling was very much:

There are tides in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood lead on to fortune.
On such a sea are we now afloat -
We must use the current as it serves
Or lose our venture.

However, long before no-side it was:

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio;
a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.

Unfortunately, there was very little:

Be not afraid of greatness:
some are born great, some achieve greatness,
and some have greatness thrust upon them."

But people should not despair because:

How poor are they that have not patience!
What wound did ever heal but by degrees?
Thou know'st we work by wit, and by attending training;
And wit depends on dilatory time."

Even before the game there was a flat feel about things, with Captain O’Callaghan trying to engender enthusiasm. The tackling was remiss early on and Marr quickly went 17 points ahead. Although Thow was taking good line-out ball, it all fell apart when thrower Constable (back) went off injured. He was joined on the physio’s table by Watson (ribs), Macrae (knee), Shillady (leg), it seemed all before half time. The back row was off the pace, along with most everyone else (perhaps except Mark Reid and McFarlane).

The second half saw some improvement, with tries from Christie and McDermid, and a revival was threatened. However, with ten minutes to go McGonigle (who was well out of sorts and may be better at centre) touched down after a maul at the Marr line but the referee who otherwise had an excellent game was caught on the wrong side and missed the score. After that the game fizzled out. It does seem to me that we should practice playing people out of position in the easier fixtures, to warm them up for events like today. I wonder if I will be able to persuade the captain that such an approach has merit.

With the news from Oban, hardly anyone stayed for a beer, but after an hour or so those who did had begun to recover.

The team was McGonigle, McDermid, Christie, Shilady, Lewis, Kennedy, McFarlane, Moscrop, Siddell, A. Reid Fuchs, O’Callaghan, Watson, E. Thow, Constable Substitutes Makusha, Taylor, R.Johnston, Macrae, M. Reid. Touch judge McNair.

Yet again there was an awful mix up in selection, with Smeaton being available but not called upon. What a difference that would have made. And unbelievably, it is said in the SRU chat room that we parachute players in for tough games! I wonder who they are? I do hope they will introduce themselves to Alex Christie soon.

Final score 10-21. Man of the match McFarlane. Played 15 won 10. Next week Accies at Accies, kick off to be agreed. Promotion dreams finished. Let’s remember to enjoy the rest of the season.

References.
Julius Caesar IV, iii
Hamlet V, I
Twelfth Night, II, v
Othello, II, iii (adjusted).

This article was posted on 5-Feb-2006, 22:25 by Hugh Barrow.