Glasgow Accies 24 Highland 3


Saturday 30th august 2008


New Anniesland


Accies got the new season off to the best possible start with a four-try bonus point victory over the men from Inverness.

On a perfect day for rugby, warm and dry and on a playing surface like velvet Accies left it late before securing the bonus point. A burst of two tries in the final seven minutes by ‘man of the match’ winger Mike Hermes sealed the win for a rejuvenated Accies team.

The first ten minutes proved to be a nervous start as Highland pressed home the advantage following the kick off. Accies weathered the storm and once they settled they threw themselves at the Highland defence with an intensity that was rarely seen last season. Opportunities to score came at a rapid rate but a staunch Highland defence and a number of little errors or wrong options stopped them scoring. Eventually in the 17th minute they got the breakthrough they needed. A surging run by at the centre of the defence by Stewart Smith almost got through but when he was stopped Cruz was at his elbow to take it on to score his first league try for Accies. Richard McKnight converted and Accies had their nose in front 7-0.

Shortly after the kick off Highland were awarded a penalty 30 metres out that they duly converted to reduce the deficit to 7-3.

From this moment on and for the remainder of the half Accies were well on top with pressure that kept Highland pinned back in their own half. However it was not until the 35th minute that Accies scored again. Richard McKnight intercepted a kick and had a clear 30 metre run in for an unconverted try to increase the margin to 12-3

There was no further scoring before half time.

On the evidence of the first half Accies had good reason to think that if they kept the pressure on the tries would flow.

Sadly the second half was disappointing as too many phases ended on the ground with either a scrum or penalty to the opposition. Highland had never looked like scoring but suddenly there were two heart stopping interception. The first was thwarted when the Highland player dropped the ball and the second by a fantastic backtracking tackle by Richard McKnight.

The frustration continued as Accies lineout started to disintegrate and the turnovers increased then with 7 minutes remaining there was a flash of genius that resulted in the best Accies try for years. Graeme Simpson picked the ball up deep inside his own half and linked with Ross Chassels. He took the ball on up to halfway before delivering a perfect pass to Mike Hermes on the right wing. The Accies flyer pinned his ears back, jinked inside the covering fullback and scored under the posts. Richard McKnight converted to make Accies comfortable at 19-3.

The bonus point was now in sight. In the last move of the game Cruz stole the opposition ball 40 metres out and fed Ryan Moseby who fed on to Ross Chassels who once again passed the ball to Mike Hermes who scorched home in the corner.

The missed conversion was the last action of the game and Accies had a very satisfying result.

New boys, centre, Ryan Moseby from New Zealand, Cruz Kawakameni, flanker, from Allan Glens and second row forward Irishman Michael O’Neil all had promising debuts and returning Hawks, Richard McKnight and Stewart Smith added an extra dimension.

This is a much-improved Accies side but it is still a work in progress and with time should score a lot of points. There were a number of basic errors and wrong options that the coaches can sort out on the training pitch over the next few weeks.

The good news is that Accies now have strength in depth. There were a number of players missing for one reason or another and when they return there will be real competition for places.

This article was posted on 30-Aug-2008, 23:45 by Hugh Barrow.