Big Al's match report

Glasgow Accies 29 Glasgow Accies Exiles XV 26
Boxing Day

New Anniesland


A sizable crowd were entertained to a marvellous game of running and attacking rugby from two committed teams who produced eight high quality tries.

With so many top rate players on show there was always going to be a chance that the game would be of a high quality but it exceeded expectations.

With eight players away on holiday Accies had to pull in four guests who all had Accies connections. Stephen Biggart is the son of an Academical, Ally Mclay teaches at the Academy, Andrew Lundie plays for the school 1 st XV and Colin Malcolm played for Accies last season. There can be little doubt that this evened up the teams leading to a competitive match. In addition Chas Afuakwah was drafted in at the last minute to play prop and a great sight it was to see him galloping around the park like a demented giraffe in a safari park. He even scored a try.

The first half was played at breakneck speed with more breakouts than you get at Barlinnie in a century. The game soon developed into a pattern with the Exiles having the greater territorial advantage and Accies gaining through counter attacks.

It didn't take long for the first score to arrive. Accies broke away from the halfway line and a clever overhead pass from Chas Afuakwah found Craig Wright on the wing and he scorched home for a try that Andrew Lundie converted.

The Exiles riposte was almost immediate when a Murray Strang break found Richard McKnight on hand to take it on. A clever pass out of the tackle to the effervescent Niall Caddell and he was over for a great try converted by Murray Strang.

7-7.

The second Exiles try was every bit as good as a bewildering exhibition of handling from Strang, Caddell. Low and back to Strang left the stand off with an easy run in to the post for a try that he converted himself.

7-14

A clattering tackle on the halfway line by Colin Tennant on Murray Strang released the ball and Craig Wright hacked and chased it to the goal line for his second try duly converted by Andrew Lundie levelling the scores at 14-14.

A superb chip by Andrew Lundie released Ally Mclay but he was caught on the line and with good defence the Exiles brought the ball back to midfield where a breakout by David Calder and swift pass released Robert McLeod for a long distance try converted by Murray Strang.

14-21.

The end-to-end nature of the game continued, helped by the sympathetic refereeing of David Leslie, kept the crowd entertained. As the half drew to a close a long period of pressure by Accies on the Exiles line finally came to an end when Chas Afuakwah, to the biggest cheer of the day, finally plunged over the line for a try that Andrew Lundie converted to bring the half time score to 21-21.

In a pulsating half containing with some bewildering passing it was clear that in Andrew Lundie there was a player of huge talent emerging. For a young player to be so confident in his handling was amazing. His ability to hold the ball up and wait until the defence was drawn in before releasing it was highly impressive. This gives his outside players a chance to get into position and use the gap that has been created. Also his kicking from hand and goal kicking are impressive.

At the start of the second half everyone realised that the game could not continue at this pace for another 40 minutes. The second half while still great entertainment was played at a more sedate pace as all the replacements were used.

Halfway through the half Exiles scored through Richard McKnight who popped up on the left wing as Accies ran out of covering defenders. The conversion was missed and Exiles lead by 21-26.

With time running out Accies set up a superb handling move following a long burst up the centre of the field by Chas Afuakwah who handled the ball three times in the move. Graeme Lusk brought the move to an end when he crossed the line in the left corner to level the scores. Andrew Lundie missed with the kick, his first miss of the day.

To make amend he dropped a smart goal from 15 metres in front to bring an enthralling game to an end and give Accies a narrow victory.

There were many candidates for Accies man of the match but in the end it goes to Colin tenant for 80 minutes of solid tackling and running he covered miles of the big pitch on the day.

This win for Accies means that the series is now tied a 4 games each and we can look forward to next year with some anticipation.

This article was originally posted on 27-Dec-2006, 09:22 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 27-Dec-2006, 22:29.