Hill/Jill Hippos 28 – Anniesland Stags 12


1.Ian Waddell, 2.PC Hooker, 3.Neil Tannahill, 4.Duncan Hamilton, 5.Ken O’Callaghan, 6.Alex Christie, 7.Tony Smith, 8.Fraser Johnson,

9.Paul Taylor, 10.Gus Watson, 11.James Ogilvie, 12.David Tait, 13.Colin McGonnigle, 14.Sam Makusha, 15.Andrew Linnett

Subs; 16.Andy Neilson, 17.Jamie McVey, 18.Neill Paterson, 19.Dave ?

(Apologies for any incorrect names or positions)

On an overcast day at Hughenden on a surprisingly playable pitch, Anniesland Stags managed to take the field with 19 players. The team was then formed on a basis of forward or back, thankfully Alex Christie and Tony Smith decided to add their considerable bulk to the pack to make a competitive 8. The story in the backs was a different matter with 6 wingers competing for two places.


Immediately from the kick off The Stags pressed the opposition into their own 22 but handing errors in the backs allowed the hippos to scamper down the park to score 2 tries within the first 15 minutes. The hippos appeared to be dining on the stags mistakes and their stand off was efficient in clearing the ball down the park. Yet again the Stags ran the ball from deep to the opposition 22 and were award a scrum when most players seemed to flop over the ball. From the resultant play Colin McGonnigle was held at centre and another scrum ensued. This time from the same move Colin changed his angle of attack and ran in untouched under the posts, converted


At the start of the second half the back three was changed (that is how you accommodate 6 wingers in a game) and Andy Neilson agreed to come on for Tony Smith after 10 mins. After a team talk from David Tait, which was rightly ignored, the Stags appeared to be anxious to start the game. This could have been due to the slight incline of the pitch in our favour.

The second half was better than the first as the handling mistakes in the backs were reduced, however the Hippos were managing to get the ball along the line to their left winger who started making powerful runs up the touchline, in fact he managed to score two tries. One from a high ball not collected and the other from a strong run up the line. 15 minutes from time the Hippos brought on some replacements in the shape of their under 18 players, whose match was cancelled that day. The Stags eventually responded by running the ball in a controlled manner in the last five minutes, allowing David Tait to run in from thirty yards out and score. The conversion was missed and the final whistle was then blown.

The match was full of errors on both sides but on fielding 11 to 12 new players to Anniesland this is what the Stags are for. Man of the Match goes to Colin McGonnigle for some strong running and support play. Thanks also to Ken O’Callaghan for managing to pull on shirt. Welcome back to Ian Waddell and the SPF contingent.

Next Match is at Home. (time, pitch and opposition to be confirmed.)

Email Chris Dunn or Alex Christie on your availability.

This article was posted on 30-Oct-2006, 11:57 by Hugh Barrow.