Duns 14 Glasgow Accies 34

Saturday 16th September 2006

At Duns

The sides that succeed in rugby are often those that are able to field a settled side each week with as few changes as are necessary. If Accies are successful they will have disproved this assumption as the team that played Duns showed 6 changes of personnel and one positional change from the side that beat Stewartry the previous Saturday.
Out: Scott Hazley Work commitments
Stuart Smith To Hawks
Andy Jackson To Hawks
Scott Thorburn Ankle injury
Colin Tennant Ankle injury
Todd Cairns Holiday
In: Jonny Adams Return from holiday
Paul Allan Back from Hillhead/Jordanhill
Dave Millar Back from hawks
Roddy Kelso Back from cricket
Chas Afuakwah Out of retirement
Stevie Winter out of retirement
The good news is that the younger and less experienced players that have stepped up into the squad can hold their heads up and be proud of their achievements. Special mention must go to Paul Allan, man of the match, for a series of clattering tackles. When he came off young Roddy Kelso took over his mantle. Jonny Adams,a little rusty in the first quarter, after three months in the States, came onto a fine game in the centre and consistently broke the gain line from his surging runs through the middle of the field. Gareth Williams confidence is growing with every game and he and Alan Wilson are settling down as a useful half back partnership and Dave Miller seemed to have benefited from his run out with Hawks 2ndXV on their visit to Aberdeen last week.
The score might suggest a runaway victory for Accies but nothing could be further from the truth. Duns may sit at the foot of the table but they have a powerful pack of forwards who denied Accies the ball for long periods in the game.
It was only in the final quarter when legs were beginning to tire that Accies threequarters took over to give the scoreline a more flattering look.
In the first quarter Accies were under a lot of pressure but defended fairly well. However they had got on the wrong side of the referee and were pinned back in their own 22-metre area by a series of penalties.
It was the 23rd minute before they won a ball in the mid field. Brian Keogh made good ground before finding Mike Hermes in space and he outpaced the defence for a try converted by Ali McLaren. McLaren also landed a penalty on the half hour and Accies appeared to have a useful lead at 10-0.
Accies were looking quite comfortable at this stage until they spilled a ball running out of defence and gifted Duns a try that was converted.
In the dying minutes of the half a Duns penalty that failed to find touch was run back by Ali McLaren who linked up with Mike Hermes. He was caught short of the line but was able to offload to Graeme Lusk who was backing up and he did the rest. Again Ali McLaren converted and Accies reached the interval leading 17-7.
The first quarter of the second half was difficult for Accies as the Duns forwards dominated the ball. Their pressure was rewarded in the 55th minute when, after a series of rucks and mauls close to Accies line, the no.8 was driven over
Duns 14 Accies 17. This was a dangerous period for Accies and this score could have turned the game.
It was not to be. Duns conceded a penalty that Gareth Williams punted into the corner. Although Accies lost their own ball they won the subsequent scrum and ran the ball through the hands until Graeme Simpson found Mike Hermes who romped home in his usual style. Graeme Simpson converted from near the touchline.
Accies were now within touching distance of the four-try bonus but it took some time to come. Five minutes from the end of normal time, although it proved to be 15 minutes from the end of the game, Accies won a scrum deep inside their opponents 22, Andy Pogrel picked up at No.8 and it was eventually fed to Jonny Adams who used his height and power to storm over.
From the kick off the confident Accies side ran the ball and after some slick handling involving Williams, Adams, Simpson and finally Allan the ball reached a delighted Dave Millar who raced home for his first try for Accies.
One had to feel sorry for the Duns boys who had contributed to a good game of rugby but in the end they lacked the pace in the backline to match Accies.
Accies should not feel too complacent because, although they have scored 100 points in the last two games, they have played the bottom two sides in the league. Next Saturday Highland should give them a sterner test. However it is good to put the nightmare start behind us and look forward to the future more confidently.
The game next Saturday starts at 3-00pm and all members are encouraged to come along and lend their support.

This article was posted on 17-Sep-2006, 22:01 by Hugh Barrow.