GHK 15 Glasgow Accies 22
Friday 24th February 2006
Old Anniesland

On a bitterly cold evening with a strong northeast wind GHK and Accies served up a highly entertaining game of rugby that lacked nothing in passion and sheer endeavour.
It was the first time for seven years that the clubs had met in meaningful competition.
A trophy had been presented by Ross Hall Hospital to be played for annually in memory of the late David Gilmour.
Accies had the wind at their back for the first 40 minutes and they made good use of it with a sound kicking display from scrum half Ali McLaren and stand off Jamie Doig. Long driving kicks into the corners kept GHK pinned down for most of the half but they still looked dangerous when given the opportunity to use their backs in breakouts.
The continuous Accies pressure soon lead to a penalty in a kickable position that Ali McLaren duly converted, shortly followed by a superb beak from half way by Dougie Horner who simply scorched home for a try converted by McLaren.
At this stage Accies looked comfortable and were stunned when the referee awarded a penalty against McLaren, on their 22 metre line, after he intercepted and seemed certain to score at the opposite end. The reliable Cammy Little made no mistake with the kick to bring GHK back into contention at 3-10.
This score gave GHK confidence and they were more frequently seen on the attack.
Accies rallied and just before half time Dougie Horner scored again and McLaren converted for a 17-3 interval lead.
This was truly a game of two halves as the second half was definitely in favour of GHK. Apart from a few sorties into enemy territory Accies were on the back foot especially at the line out where Stuart Pollock reigned supreme.
On one of these sorties Accies scored again. A delicate little chip by McLaren into the right corner and a favourably bounce allowed Mike Hermes to score in the corner for an unconverted try and a 22-3 lead.
This was the signal for GHK to launch wave after wave of attacks on their opponents line. Accies defence was fairly secure but as the pressure mounted it began to crack and eventually enough space was created to allow Rory Love to race home for a well worked try. Cammy Little converted to narrow the deficit to 10-22.
Accies were certainly not in favour with the referee and due to the number of penalties awarded against them simply could not break out of defence.
With 10 minutes of play remaining GHK scored again with a well worked lineout move that allowed Stuart Pollock to come through the lineout to score wide out on the left. Cammy Little failed with the vital conversion.
The final minutes were more than a little tense as Accies attempted to hold their line and they were relieved to hear the final whistle.
Both teams can take credit for an exciting and at times skilful encounter

This article was posted on 26-Feb-2006, 00:41 by Hugh Barrow.