Glasgow Accies 29 v Grangemouth 3



On another cold and wet day Accies warmed their supporters hearts by returning to winning ways in the Cup by sweeping aside Grangemouth who are a league above them in National League One.

Accies opened briskly, playing into a strong breeze and after ten minutes a break from a scrum in midfield by the excellent Alan Wilson set up good field position for Accies and as the ball was passed out right all action flanker Andy Jackson ran in from 20 metres out for the first try.

5 – 0 to Accies.

Grangemouth try to respond and, after missing a very kickable penalty, get off the mark with a sweetly taken drop goal from their stand-off.

Accies were clearly in no mood to let Grangemouth get a foothold in the game and struck back with two very quick scores. The first, a penalty goal, from Jamie Doig the result of Grangemouth running off side after a series of high tempo driving rucks, the second straight from the re-start as Grangemouth tried to switch direction from the re-start kick straight into Jamie Doig’s hands and he simply ran back up the field to score a try completely untouched by the Grangemouth defence to make it 13 – 3.

The first half drew to a close with Grangemouth trying to press for a score to rally their spirits but they lacked any real cutting edge to their play and Accies defence was like a brick wall with no way through and as the half time whistle blew it was actually Accies pushing back up the field searching for the next score.

Accies started the second half with the wind advantage and promptly set up camp on the Grangemouth 22 metre line. Perhaps the slippery conditions affected the handling as Accies couldn’t quite get the try that their pressure demanded for a full ten minutes.

The score, when it came, was classic Accies play. A quick tap penalty from the ever alert Alan Wilson and Accies backs were off driving deep into Grangemouth’s 22 metre zone and superb support play from Paul Allan enabled him to receive the inside pass and dive over from 3 metres out for the try that killed off any hopes that Grangemouth may have had about turning the game around.

18 – 3 to Accies.

Accies press on again and, from a shortened line out, the resultant driving maul and crisp backline move have Grangemouth scrambling to clear their lines. Playing into the wind Grangemouth’s only option was to try to run the ball out of defence but Accies gave them nowhere to go and after a good ten minutes of stalemate Accies stole possession and Ally McLay scorched in from 15 metres out to get the 4th try and the scoreboard ticking over again.

23 – 3 to Accies.

The game was won but Accies supporters wanted to see at least one more score before the end and they were rewarded with a terrific score from Mike Hermes. From the re-start Grangemouth spilled the ball in midfield, the ever alert Al Wilson scooped up the ball and quickly fed Mike Hermes who was in a bit of space. Mike simply looked up, stepped outside his opposite man, turned on the afterburners and ran in from 40 metres out for the final score of the game leaving his opposite man grasping at thin air.

Final Score 28 – 3 to Accies.

This correspondants Man of the Match goes to Andy Jackson for an all action display of wing forward play, however, despite only coming on at half time, Paul Allan ran him very close for some superb support play in particular when he scored his try.

For Accies the Murrayfield Cup Final dream is well and truly alive and, with a favourable draw and a bit of good fortune, could see Accies return to the home of Scottish Rugby in April.

Stephen

This article was originally posted on 21-Jan-2007, 18:03 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 21-Jan-2007, 23:19.