Glasgow Accies V Dumfries

Scottish Hydro Bowl

3rd February 2007



Accies’ Murrayfield Dreams Are Over



Accies Murrayfield dream ended on Saturday as Dumfries overcame a poor Accies second half performance to score 32 unanswered points in a torrid 25 minute spell when just about everything that could go wrong for Accies did against a useful but, essentially, limited Dumfries team who relied on their heavy pack, driving mauls and crash ball centre moves to achieve their objectives of gaining ground and hoping the defending team run out of defenders.

It all looked so different in the first half when, after surviving a difficult opening 10 minutes during which Dumfries showed their full repertoire of moves, Accies put huge pressure on the Dumfries defence for nearly 30 minutes and had three clear cut chances to score. Unfortunately, in a marked contrast to last weeks victory over Allan Glens, the Accies backline stuttered and stumbled and all three chances were lost either by poor decisions on the field, two very kickable penalties were declined, or poor handling which cost Accies dearly when in good scoring positions.

With Captain Ross Chassells at Twickenham the backline had been re-shuffled and frankly it didn’t work. It took the back line far too long to establish any sort of rhythm and this only happened towards the end of the game when Ali McLaren and Kenny Weir came on as replacements.

Disappointingly, the die was cast when Accies conceded a try in the final act of the first half after the pack had put in a huge shift against the powerful Dumfries forwards for 40 minutes.

Early in the second half Accies should have got back into the game. Chasing a kick ahead from Brad Wirth, Mike Hermes was ruled not to have scored a try by the visiting referee . (As it turned out the referee was correct as Mike later admitted that he had indeed knocked the ball on in attempting to pick up and dive over) This was followed by a try in the corner that all were agreed had not been touched down. . Also disappointingly, the referee failed to award Accies a penalty try late in the game as Accies pressed for a consolation score, he did yellow card the Dumfries stand-off for the persistant killing of the ball but did not award the penalty try as Dumfries conceded a number of penalties on their own line by deliberately killing the ball.

As often happens lady luck flows with you when you’re up and against you when your down as following a restart two Accies forwards clashed heads and were laid low. Dumfries took advantage of the lack of cover and drove forward to the line for a simple score.

At the top of National League 3, Dumfries deserved their win as they remained focussed and controlled when under pressure from Accies and stuck to their task with the confidence of a side that wins consistently. The Dumfries stand-off, E. Brydon, was excellent with the ball both off the boot and through the hands kicking all his goals and getting his back line moving well.

The league campaign continues but the season is effectively over and both players and coaches need to re-group and focus on building a new team for next season that has the grit and tactical know how to compliment the abundant flair that Accies clearly have but have shown only too fleetingly this season.

Stephen

This article was originally posted on 4-Feb-2007, 19:02 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 4-Feb-2007, 19:14.