SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY REPORTS

Iain Morrison at Raeburn Place
Club celebrates 150th anniversary but find party guests too much to handle
EDINBURGH ACCIES 31
CO-OPTIMISTS 45

SCOTLAND'S oldest rugby club played a match against the Co-optimists yesterday afternoon at Raeburn Place as part of their 150th birthday celebrations, but the scratch side were in no mood to offer any presents, winning by the less-than-convincing margin of seven tries to five.

It was a close game, with the home team leading into the final quarter until late touchdowns from Andrew Maxwell and Jamie Miller gave the Co-optimists the win they probably deserved. It would have been a more convincing win had the Co-opts' handling not let them down time and again.

The match was originally due to have acted as an unofficial trial for the club international side which has matches scheduled against both Ireland and Wales this season. In the event this didn't happen. Ken McCaulay, who runs the Co-opts, said that he didn't receive any player requests until too late in the day. Scotland's club international coach Ian Rankin saw things differently, but declined to prolong the argument.

"That was really about Edinburgh Accies," he said after the match. "I don't think that the professional players really added that much but they are just looking for some game time. We are actively looking to set up a couple of fixtures, perhaps against one of the backup squads and (Scotland Under-20 manager] John Jeffrey was on the phone talking about a game against the Scotland Under-20 team because we both need games."

So do several professional players and the invitation team ended up fielding no fewer than five in their match-day squad, including one fully-fledged international in Glasgow's Canadian prop Kevin Tkachuk. But several players put their hands up, and not all of them hailed from fashionable clubs.

Haddington centre Callum Mark finished this match strongly, manufacturing one of the winning scores. Kirkcaldy's Craig Wilson made an immediate impact when he came on early in the first half and made yards with every carry throughout the game. Currie's Andy McMahon also ran hard and straight.

Elsewhere, Stirling County's Craig Deacons caught the eye with his ball skills. His colleague from Bridgehaugh, playmaker Brain Archbald, didn't last much beyond the half-hour mark, but he looked solid enough up to that point and certainly his kicking is a useful weapon. Boroughmuir's Greg Cottrell switched between nine and ten after Archibald's departure and looked much happier in the fly-half role. Having said that, Stevie Swindall was not particularly comfortable in the No.8 shirt either, so Cottrell didn't have far to look for excuses. Accies' Greg Laidlaw was his usual busy self at scrum-half and scored the try of the match when his halfback partner Ruariridh Bonner took a quick line-out throw and sent him on his way to the line.

Another Meggetland man, Charlie Keenan, must have been close to claiming the man of the match award, not least for the two tries he snaffled, one conjured out of nothing, the other a length-of-the-field-effort that proved he has lost none of his blistering pace.

On the opposite wing, Edinburgh pro Andrew Maxwell did not overly impress, at least until his marker Matt Coupar left the field with an injury. Then Maxwell promptly scored two good tries. Coupar also scored early in proceedings but it was his defensive work – one tackle back on Malcolm Clapperton was outstanding – that really caught the eye and he should be in the equation when Rankin sits down to select his eventual 22.

Both sides ran the ball at every opportunity and, as one of the crowd noted, the referee was definitely playing "festival rules" – no more than two consecutive forward passes in any one movement.

He also awarded two tries which looked dubious but, then again, both sides benefited.

Edinburgh Accies: J Pecquer; C Dickie, L McCann, C Dunlop, M Coupar; R Bonner, G Laidlaw; S Patience, N Millar, L Niven, S Willet, N Pike, T Drennan, E Milne, T Stuart.

Co-Optimists: C Shaw (Glasgow): C Keenan (Boroughmuir), M Clapperton (Boroughmuir), C Mark (Haddington), A Maxwell (Edinburgh); B Archibald (Stirling Cty), G Cottrell (Boroughmuir); B McNeil (Heriot's), A Moffat (Stirling Cty), K Tkachuk (Glasgow), S Sutherland (Ayr), C Deacons (Stirling Cty), R Weston (Currie), R Mccaulay (North Berwick), S Swindall (Glasgow).

Scorers Accies – Tries: Pecquer, McCann, Coupar, Laidlaw, Miller. Cons: Laidlaw (3). Co-opts – Tries: Keenan (2), Lawrie, Shaw, Maxwell (2), C Wilson. Cons: Archibald, G Wilson (4)

Referee: I Clark.

This article was posted on 30-Dec-2007, 09:42 by Hugh Barrow.