Glasgow Accies 12 Caithness 0

New Anniesland

Saturday 18th November 2006


After a week of almost monsoon like rain the New Anniesland pitch was in remarkable condition and the day was bright but cold. The players matched the change in the weather by serving up a highly intensive an entertaining display of rugby to keep the spectators happy.

In the end an excellent display of defending by Accies was the difference between the two sides.

Accies got off to the best possible start when they scored in the opening minute. Highland’s first attack broke down at the half way line and left winger Brad Wirth grabbed the loose ball and outstripped the defenders to score under the posts. Jamie Doig converted for a 7-0 lead.

From that moment until the 20th minute Highland kept Accies on the defence and they had to work hard to keep a young and lively Caithness side at bay. Eventually they broke out and started to win a better supply of the ball however too often they lost possession by poor handling. Some of the errors were unforced and this is an area of their game that will have to be tightened up.

In the 33 minute Accies came close to scoring from a clever lineout move that released Andy Pogrel on a 35-metre run. He was hauled down just short of the line and the chance was lost.

Accies continued to attack until half time but the only chances of a score came from two missed penalties one of which rebounded from a post.

Half Time Accies 7 Caithness 0

After half time Stephen Biggart came on as a replacement and he injected a sense of urgency and pace into the Accies back division.

For the first 15 minutes of the half it was fairly end-to-end with neither side making a decisive breakthrough. At this point the Caithness No.4 received a yellow card for foul play and this turned out to be crucial as Accies were able to pressurise the Caithness defence.

With 15 minutes of play remaining Alan Wilson put a huge penalty into touch close to the opposition line. Accies drove the subsequent lineout but it crabbed sideways across the pitch towards the posts and it looked as if the chance might be lost. However it was eventually fed out to Captain Ross Chassels who had enough power to force his way over the line for an unconverted try that relieved the pressure.

For the remainder of the half Accies had to defend for their lives to keep their line in tact as wave after wave of Caithness attacks reigned in. In the end they were happy to hear the final whistle and to know that they had reversed a 67-18 hammering in Thurso on the first Saturday in September.

Winger Brad Wirth was voted man of the match for his all round performance in conditions that must be alien to the man from Brisbane.

This was a much better performance from Accies in terms of the forward effort and certainly in defence but there are still two many basic handling errors and the need to find a competent goal kicker is becoming urgent. Three straightforward kicks were missed and success with these would have made Accies task a lot easier.

The league now has a one-week break and after13 consecutive Saturdays this will be welcomed by the players and give sore bodies a chance to recuperate.

A week on Saturday Accies are away to Stewartry and the on 9th December there is the vital cup tie at Falkirk.

At this stage in the season Ali Mclaren is the top scorer with 42 points.

Mike Hermes despite missing the last half dozen games is still the top try scorer with 8 tries.

This article was originally posted on 19-Nov-2006, 11:51 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 19-Nov-2006, 11:53.