Saturday 30 September 2006

Anniesland Stags (26) v. Hillhead/Jordanhill (31)

Stags:

1 Jon Brown

2 Rob McNaught

3 Willie Brown (HillJills)

4 Andy Beverley

5 Andy Dunlop

6 Andy Nelson

7 Andy Watson

8 Fraser Simpson

9 Kenny Weir

10 Tony Smith

11 James Ogilvie

12 David Tait

13 Paul Taylor

14 HillJills Back (then Sam Makusha)

15 Brendan Moriarty

On another hot late summer day an influx of students (good on you lads) to GHK and Accies’ 2nd XVs allowed Stags to field a fairly strong side and this was fortunate as they ran up against a very powerful Hillhead/Jordanhill team. Hills were better drilled up front, indeed chat was even heard from their team of things working out from the training field. (They train!!!). Hills in the spirit of 3rd XV rugby supplied a slightly light numbered Anniesland team with the excellent prop Willie Brown and a back to keep the teams competitive.

Hills pressed from the start and there was a controversial moment after only two minutes when a Stags player on the ground was trampled by a Hills flanker who promptly received a ten minute rest in the sin bin. When the Stags player got up it was none other than the old soldier Willie Brown on loan from Hills! This was a ding dong match with both sides mounting impressive attacking raids. Stags were operating on less ball than Hills but the excellent half-back combination of Weir and Smith looked threatening whenever they had possession. If Weir can get some training in he looks a hot bet for promotion to a higher level. Further out the forward David Tait did well to link to the other backs but the defensive alignment looked shaky. Paul Taylor (whose father was cheering from the touchline) scored after a fine move and there was another try scored by someone whose name escapes me. Unfortunately Hills were also scoring and were in the lead near the end when Stags put together a fine flowing move from 65 yards, involving most of the backs and the back row. Andy Dunlop unexpectedly appeared on the shoulder of Paul Taylor just a few yards from the posts and took the pass for glory. As the final whistle approached there was more controversy when Andy Beverley (whose father was also cheering from the touchline) pounced on a loose ball in midfield and outpaced the Hills centres before chipping over the full-back who obstructed him. The referee had little hesitation in awarding the penalty try which was converted by Tony Smith who added to his earlier scores.

Sam Makusha would have been on for the full game but missed the start and came on at half time for the HillJill back, but when the Andy Nelson went off injured, the Hills back came back on as a flanker. Fraser Simpson forgot to stay on his feet at the breakdown and was heavily penalised for forgetting the referee knew that law. Andy Nelson, although not penalised, spent most of the day being asked by the referee to stay on-side. James Ogilvie’s father turned up to watch but only occasionally did the ball reach that wing.

David McNair was the referee who unforgivingly played 35 minutes each way, much to the disgust of both teams, who were looking for as short a run out as possible. (Note from ref: I think I forgot to restart the watch after an injury, so one of the halves was 40 minutes). However he did manage to keep the game reasonably within the laws and will be welcome back (although if there are any aspiring referees out there please get in touch). We will be looking for a rematch at Hughenden where hopefully the Anniesland team will be able to give a better account of themselves.

This article was posted on 5-Oct-2006, 20:41 by Hugh Barrow.