Glasgow Accies 13 Linlithgow 17

Saturday 4th November 2006

New Anniesland

In the cold light of this morning the Accies players will look at the above scoreline and wonder what happened. The weather was good with a southwesterly wind blowing towards the clubhouse, the pitch was perfect and Mike Davies the exchange referee from Liverpool was one of the better whistlers seen this season. He was hot on players being offside at rucks and mauls and that suited Accies who are not good at dealing with this aspect of the game. So what went wrong? Fortunately for you the readers this report is not long enough to report on it all so this summary is going to be enough sad reading for today.

After a highly gutsy performance last week against Falkirk Accies fell back into the sloppy play of the start of the season. The kicking from hand was atrocious with even penalties being kicked over the dead ball line. The decision-making and communication so poor that it contributed to failing to score on three or more occasions and still far to many forwards are committing themselves to the rucks unnecessarily.

Linlithgow were there to be beaten but with a solid defence and a rumbustious pack they were able to hold on to an early lead without too much difficulty. In fact for the first 25 minutes it seemed that they would eventually roll Accies over, for that is how long it took Accies to get out of their own half.

During this period every Accies attempt to break out failed, thwarted either by kicks that failed to reach touch or back moves that broke down in midstream.

Certainly Accies were playing into the breeze and the Linlithgow stand off made very good use of it.

It took Linlithgow 11 minutes to score but after a series of rucks on the line that Accies defended well they decided to release to the backs and the centre was able to squeeze over in the left corner for a converted try.

What was surprising was that it took them another 13 minutes to score again this time from a penalty in front as yet another Accies kick failed to make touch.

0-10

At last Accies gained possession and territory. It came from a heel against the head in midfield but the threequarter move broke down as Accies were unable to get the ball out wide. However Linlithgow were offside at this move and Jamie Doig’s kick took them deep into the 22. Accies wasted this opportunity by trying a move that was too complicated and they were penalised for crossing. This kick took Linlithgow back into Accies territory and to the most exciting incident in the game. Andy Jackson, who had put in a power of tackling, suddenly broke clear with the ball and sprinted 70 metres up the right touch line. He was caught right on the line but from the subsequent scrum Graeme Lusk forced his way over and Jamie Doig converted.

7-10

At the half time whistle Accies supporters heaved a huge sigh of relief, as it could have been much worse. The last 15 minutes of the half had been encouraging as Accies fought their way back into the match and with the stiffening breeze there was some hope of victory.

For all but five minutes of the second half Accies had territorial advantage but these minutes proved to be crucial as within them Linlithgow were awarded a penalty try.

Accies failed to clear their line and attempted to run the ball out of defence. Needless to say the ball was dropped and Gareth Williams held his opposite number back and was penalised with a yellow card and 7 points.

At this stage the sides were even at 10-10 as Jamie Doig had kicked an earlier penalty.

With 15 minutes to go he kicked another to narrow the score to 13-17 but that was to be Accies last score though there were countless other chances that were spurned. These included a penalty in front that was kicked to the corner when there were about 8 minutes still on the clock.

Accies have now made their chance of promotion very slim indeed and will have to rely on other results if they are to have any hope. Most of all they have to become far more clinical in dealing with chances because it is unlikely that they will receive as many in future games.

Man of the match this week goes to Alan Wilson scrum half. His service was sound and the little sniping breaks from the back of scrums and mauls were always dangerous.

Last week it was said that the next four games were crucial. It is now three and even more crucial as Accies are away to Annan next week and they waltzed through Accies in the first game of the season. After this it is on to the Cup on 9th December. The draw has not been favourable as yet again it is an away game, this time at Falkirk. Hopefully by that time Mike Hermes, Jonny Adams, Jamie Stewart and Dougie Horner will be back to full fitness.

This article was posted on 5-Nov-2006, 11:22 by Hugh Barrow.