Glasgow Accies 24 v Forrester RFC 36

Sat 22nd September

New Anniesland


On a bright, sunny, breezy Saturday Accies welcomed Forrester RFC from Edinburgh for the first fixture between the two clubs. With Forrester riding high at the top of the league with three wins out of three and playing some exciting 15 man rugby and Accies looking to develop a fortress New Anniesland with an exceptionally strong defence but also a healthy 15 man rugby ethic something had to give. Unfortunately for Accies the walls were breached!


Forrester opened brightly pressing for an early score but Accies defence was strong enough to repel the early attacks however after 13 minutes Forrester open the scoring with the first try as their second row crashed through two tackles from close range with Accies on the back foot following a series of drives to the line and a quck ruck ball pass to the second row did the rest. What was of greater concern was how Accies were standing off the Forrester team rather than pressing forward to close space down and be much more forceful in their defence.

Accies responded but following some strong driving play the ball was knocked on and Forrester with the strong breeze behind them clear downfield with ease. Accies lineout is malfunctioning in the early stages and Forrester pounce to attack and following a series of strong drives they move the ball wide with the Accies defence stretched to the limit. The Forrester No14 collects the pass in oceans of space and had time to run for the line kick and collect amidst the covering defenders and fall over the line for their second try.

Accies finally come to life with some excellent driving forward play linking up with the backs and after 5 phases eventually Forrester are penalised for offside and Gareth Williams stroked over the penalty.


Accies 3 – Forrester 12


The promise of better tidings disappeared in seconds as Accies failed to deal with the restart and from the resulting scrum the sharp Forrester centre cut back on the angle to score under the posts.


Accies 3 – Forrester 19


As if to make their task that bit harder Accies allow Forrester to score their fourth try securing the bonus point after a mere 30 minutes as their scrum half burrowed under two tacklers to score following some excellent play from both forward and backs that was tearing Accies apart.


Accies 3 – Forrester 26


They say that one man can’t win the game in rugby, this is true however he can provide massive inspiration and influence and the introduction of Steve Begley after 30 minutes did just that for Accies and after coming to life Accies finally opened their try account via David McLaughlin. An excellent break from the combative captain Alan Wilson supported by the pack with a driving maul, first Si Cadwallader then Steve Begley smash forward at the Forrester defence, “Deeds” like all good wing forwards backed up and got over the line.


Accies 10 – Forrester 26 (Half Time)


With the strong breeze now behind them Accies made an immediate impression as clearance kicks were going deep downfield and Accies confidence was rising and soon their scored their second try after laying siege to the Forrester line with Gareth Williams showing the positive side to his game as he danced through two tackles to score under the posts.


Accies 17 – Forrester 26


Finally Accies really believe the game is there to be won and are putting Forrester under real pressure. The contrast with the first half where Accies stood off Forrester and let them play is startling as in the face of the onslaught Forrester look decidedly unsure of themselves as Accies fly up in their faces, harrowing and chasing them down and Accies get their reward with a try from their talismanic Steve Begley following a lineout take and drive with the big man taking the ball and half the pack over with him.


Accies 24 – Forrester 26


The game is in the balance but Forrester aren’t league leaders for nothing and draw upon all their composure to strike back at Accieswith a well worked try from their winger, collecting his second of the day with tem minutes let to play


Accies 24 – Forrester 31


This didn’t knock Accies out of their stride as the game was still there to be won. However Accies won a turnover lineout ball and as it is spun out to the backs a mix up causes the ball to be dropped and the Forrester full back pounced kicking ahead and picking up to score the final match winning try.


Accies 24 – Forrester 36


In the end an extremely disappointing result for Accies as they stood off Forrester for fully 30 minutes and at any level you can’t afford to let teams play unopposed and build up a healthy lead. The potential is there but at times the decision making in the backline about when to run and when to give it the old fashioned boot up the field and play for field position was missing and this is something that the team will have to work on this week.

This article was posted on 24-Sep-2007, 10:19 by Hugh Barrow.