Glasgow Accies 12 v Whitecraigs 24

Saturday 11th August

Whitecraigs



Match Report



Accies travelled to the south side of Glasgow full of anticipation following a productive pre-season fitness training programme instilled by Coaches Afuakwah & Wintle and the players being led on the field by new playing captain Alan Wilson for the first of the pre-season training match against Glasgow rivals Whitecraigs.



Accies kicked off the first of three 30 minute sessions under grey skies which were soon to open up with yet more rain on this the wettest of summers. The opening few minutes were pretty even as both teams began to test each other out in a live game for the first time. ‘Craigs were looking to move the ball wide early on but Accies defence held firm and indeed Accies had much of the territorial advantage in the opening 15 minutes but without a real cutting edge as ‘Craigs back line defence was well marshalled and very strong in the centres. However, soon after this Accies began to exert some pressure and had a good spell of play with the ball moving wide to the wings with firstly Mike Hermes and secondly Craig Wright being forced into touch just short of ‘Craigs try line with some well executed back line moves. As was to be a factor in the games ‘Craigs strong rush defence held firm and Accies were repelled following as a poor lineout throw allowed ‘Craigs to clear their lines. Unfortunately, turnover ball was something of an unwanted feature of Accies play today as the rain came down and the ball seemed to spill out when Accies went into contact. This proved to be costly for Accies throughout the game as it enabled ‘Craigs to clear their lines and turn defence into attack on a number of occasions. This is clearly one of the areas for the coaching team to work on this week ahead of Accies trip next Saturday to play Blackburn RFC.

The see-saw nature of the first session continued until 5 mins from the end when Accies exerted real pressure to try to open the scoring but ‘Craigs strong, scrambling defence held out to close the first session 0 – 0.

Keen to give all the players a run Accies rung the changes in the back three and also in the pack with a much younger look to the team and they opened promisingly even though they were playing into the wind and rain that had this writer checking for webbed feet.

As the second 30 minute session wore on ‘Craigs began to exert pressure on Accies pinning Accies back into their own ‘22’ with clever use of the wind to torment Accies back three with deep kicks into the corners. Eventually this pressure told as Accies tried to run out of their ‘22’ following a secure lineout, a high pass to Jamie Doig couldn’t be held and ‘Craigs centre caught it on the full and ran through for a fortunate, opening, converted try under the posts. 7 – 0 to ‘Craigs.

This seemed to knock Accies’ confidence and encouraged ‘Craigs as they scored again minutes after following a quick tap penalty, which confused this writer as the ball had been kicked into touch for a regulation lineout, however the referee awarded the try and it was 14 – 0 to ‘Craigs.

Defying the wind and rain Accies struck back as good first phase ball was swept along the line and kicked downfield with ‘Criags clearing into touch 5 metres out. A clever lineout ploy saw hooker Matteo Giovanazzi open Accies account by driving over from 3 metres out for an unconverted try which ended the second session. 14 – 5 to ‘Craigs.

The third session opened promisingly for Accies but ‘Craigs strong defence and Accies inability to retain the ball in contact had set the tone and this continued as ‘Craigs swept into Accies ‘22’ following another spilled ball. Accies had no answer to ‘Craigs strong running centres, although Accies centre Ross Kennedy showed well in patches throughout the game with some clever lines of running, the move broke down and Accies have a scrum 5 metres out. Sadly, a mix up at the base of the scrum allows ‘Craigs flanker to steal the ball and dive over for the third try. 19 – 5

Accies picked themselves up and swept back at ‘Craigs, but a solid rush defence and ring rusty play from Accies backs resulted in the pack taking control of the ball and following some good strong driving play and sustained pressure Accies pack drove over with Simon Cadwallader claiming the try converted by Gareth Williams from out wide. 19 – 12 to Craigs.

The scoring closed with a final try to ‘Craigs following a quick lineout move and fast hands along their back line mixed with good backs interplay and support being finished off in the corner by their centre for his second try of the day. 24 – 12 to Craigs.



Overall, a disappointing start to Accies pre-season campaign as they spilled far too much ball in contact resulting in pressure being turned back upon themselves and got out muscled in the back line as Accies backs kept repeatedly trying the same moves only to get the same result from a strong well marshalled ‘Craigs defence.

However, there are some positives from the game, particularly the fitness of the players and the strength of the scrum and lineout which bodes well and, with 2 new forwards to join, a strengthening of the pack in the darker arts of forward play. Also, Accies occasionally need to take a more pragmatic approach to the game and keep opposition teams turning backwards with boot to ball. Hopefully a further week of training will iron out the simple ball carrying errors which enabled ‘Craigs to turn defence into attack and a little more imagination from the back line to break the gain line and keep defences on the back foot to give the forwards some targets to aim for.

Next week Accies continue to pre-season build up continues in Blackburn in the North West of England as Accies link up with Andy Pogrel & Simon Cadwalladers’ former club

This article was posted on 12-Aug-2007, 22:13 by Hugh Barrow.