As the American Civil War drew to a close Robert E Lee was asked why the Confederacy were not awarding medals he responded by saying it was not required because they were all heroes
This could also apply to the most recent skirmish in the 120 year old Civil War of Anniesland
Read on

GHK 2nd XV diary 31 March 2007

On Saturday 31 March I had the pleasure of attending Old Anniesland to watch GHK 2nd XV play a league fixture against their rivals from over the fence, Glasgow Academicals. For GHK it was a must win game as they sat perilously close to the bottom of the division. For Accies, sitting in mid table, victory would ensure local bragging rights.

On a warm and bright sunny day (which, due to this retrospective entry, I can confirm was a taste of things to come for those who took the first week of Easter in Scotland). Accies kicked off, and didn’t leave the GHK half for the first quarter of the match. GHK had a torrid time up front against a heavier Accies’ pack, at one stage failing to hold a rolling maul that travelled some 50 metres. Heroic defence by GHK saw the ball held up over their goal line no fewer than three times, but eventually the pressure told and Accies scored, then scored again, then scored again. With GHK 21 points down after 15 minutes and what little possession was won being disrupted at scrum-half (one feels not on every occasion legally) there were murmurings from the sidelines about moving Russell Johnston to No. 9. After some confusion about who had responsibility for such a call (an unfortunate state of affairs by any standards) the move was made, with Darren O’Brien going to centre and Colin McGonigle to full-back. I later discovered that Darren usually plays on the wing; I’m sure most wingers would stutter at scrum-half. Anyway, the switches resulted in improved possession and GHK began to find their way into the game. Talking of stuttering there was a bit of Stottering at outside half, where Andrew (who is very dependable and a valuable member of the team) seemed to have lost confidence in his backs, and took the ball back towards the forwards too frequently. With the likes of McDermid, McGonigle, Christie and Lewis in the line-up, the first port of call should be the ball passed to the wings, the more so from second to fourteenth phase possession inclusive (but fifteenth phase ball should be kicked to touch to allow resuscitation personnel on to the field).

Half time was reached with no further scoring and allowed two crucial substitutions with Beverley and O’Callaghan taking the field. GHK were now in the ascendancy with some storming runs from Beverley well supported by old head MacLeod. The newcomer (and all newcomers are welcome) Harrison put in a good shift. The extra weight of O’Callaghan was a benefit in the tight and loose. Fraser Johnston was taking good line-out ball and Joe Fuchs using his physique. The appearance of Blair Moscrop for a second week in a row was benefiting his game, and the Milne brothers became active; at one stage they seemed to be substituting each other. Russell Johnston was linking well and the penalty kicking of Stott began to chip away at the deficit. Another barnstorming run by Beverley led to him scoring a try. Shortly afterwards in a move so swift and devastating that I missed it another try was scored I suspect by Russell Johnston. GHK were now in the ascendancy and only one point behind Accies with 15 minutes to go.

However, Accies withstood the pressure and capitalised on some lucky bounces to score a further converted try and a penalty, to leave the final score 20-31.

This was a good day out with almost everyone on the field well-behaved.

The man of the match was Andy Beverley, who on this showing and if he continues to train could become a very useful force.

One can only speculate on what would have happened if the GHK final line up had started the match. In future perhaps it would be best to put the heavy squad on at the start to wear down the opposition, with the more mobile contingent on later when extra space is appearing.

The GHK team was:

Russell Johnston
Alex Christie
Colin McGonnigle
Liam McDermid
Neil Lewis
Andrew Stott
Darren O’ Brien
Blair Moscrop
Iain Macrae
Roy Harrison
Steven Milne
Joe Fuchs
Fraser Milne
Fraser Johnston
Rod MacLeod

Substitutes
Ken O’Callaghan
Andy Beverley

This article was posted on 11-Apr-2007, 19:19 by Hugh Barrow.