Glasgow Accies 33 Greenock Wanderers 48

New Anniesland

26th September 2009

Highly entertaining Game at new Anniesland


A sizeable crowd at New Anniesland were treated to a highly entertaining game with 81 points, 9 tries and a 52 minute first half.

In the end Wanderers ran out deserved winners by 5 tries to 4 and a great display of place kicking from their stand off Tony Devlin who was successful with 9 out of 11 attempts at goal and a points tally of 23. Accies to their credit never gave up and picked up a bonus point for scoring four tries.

Even before the game Accies were under pressure by losing their talismanic flanker Jack Walker with an injury during the warm up. Robin Bryant came off the bench to play in the second row and Steve Begley moved back to fill the gap at 6.

Wanderers ran onto the pitch full of the confidence of a side that had won four games in a row to head the league. From the looks on their faces Accies morale was low due to 3 defeats out of 4 and the loss of Jack Walker.

It was a perfect autumn day for rugby, dry, mild, a perfect playing surface and a stiffish Southwest breeze coming over the top of the flats at the Clydebank end of the ground.

Wanderer’s game plan was clear from the start. In attack they were going to use their speedy backs and good handling to run Accies big pack off their feet and suck in defenders to the breakdown points. In defence to lie as far up as they could get away with to smother the Accies backs and put pressure on the rucks and mauls at the stoppage points. They are a very streetwise side and they played the visiting English referee to the absolute limit and were rarely penalised.

Accies on the other hand were going to use the bludgeoning tactics of the their big forwards and backs battering their way towards the goal line. To a certain extent it worked out for both sides but Accies were on the wrong side of the penalty count by 12 to 8.

Playing with the wind the Greenock stand off constantly prodded the ball into the corners and then used his backs to run the ball. Most of the running was lateral but too often the Accies backs were sucked into the rucks and the defence was left exposed.

In defence Accies kicked poorly. Too often the ball failed to reach touch or was kicked too deep allowing the Wanderers David Watson the full back to run it back to good effect.

In the early part of the first half the score mounted against Accies.

In the 7th minute a poor clearance was run back from halfway and the centre scampered over for a converted try. In 12th minute Wanderers kicked a penalty from 35 metres for holding on.

0-10

20th minute another penalty for a ruck offence

0-13.

Then suddenly Accies burst into life and in their first excursion into the Wanderers half Carl Bates notched a penalty only for it to be negated by another penalty that went over off a post.

3-16

Accies had taken a liking for visiting the other half of the field and Carl Bates burst over between the posts for a try that he converted himself finishing off a great surge by Cruz carried on by Steve Begley.

10-16.

Accies were back in the game until the referee stepped in. He yellow carded Steve Begley for attempting to clear the ball from a ruck with his feet. As he said after the match it wasn’t for stamping, as that would have been a red card.

A man down Accies were stretched to keep Wanderers at bay. Finally they had a four- man overlap but the centres messed it up. Luck however was on their side as the missed pass popped up into another pair of Wanderers hands and resulted in a converted try in the left hand corner.

10-23

The referee then evened up the numbers by yellowing carding Wanderers No 8 Callum Robb for a professional foul.

By now the half was over but in the 41st minute Accies were penalised for a ruck offence.

10-26

48th minute. A poor clearance and a weak tackle let Wanderers in for a soft try in the corner again converted by their stand off

10-33

50th minute. A penalty by Ali McLaren who had come on for the injured Jamie Doig.

13-33

There was still time for the kick off before hints from the crowd finally convinced the referee that it was half time and he brought a breathless half to an end. He must have been enjoying himself on his visit to Scotland or Timex sponsored him. The extra time had cost Accies 10 points to three.

Half time Accies 13 Greenock Wanderers 33

As it turned out the second half was a little less frantic and Accies actually won it 20-15 scoring three tries to two.

The half started well enough for Accies with Ali Mclaren kicking Accies third penalty early on.

16-33

Then disaster struck. Following a reshuffle in the backs due to injuries the confusion caused allowed Wanderers space to come through the centre for their fourth and bonus point try

16-38

Now Accies really had to dig in and they did in the shape of Stewart Smith. He battered his way into the 22 trailing bodies behind him. When he was stopped the ball was quickly recycled and there he was again, this time making it all the way to the line for a try that Ali Mclaren converted.

23-38.

Wanderers followed this with their 5th penalty of the match.

23-41

Not to be outdone by his centre colleague Steve Begley got in on the act and in similar fashion powered his way over from 15 metres to close the gap to

28-41.

Suddenly it was all there to play for as there was sufficient time left. But Greenock had one more score left in them. From a blatantly offside position they put pressure on the Accies backs and a fumble lead to an opening from which they scored.

28-48.

Finally in the dying minute of this pulsating game, for once, the Wanderers backs made a mess of clearing up and Carl Bates was able to hack the ball on for a score in the corner.

Final score Accies 33-48.

As was said earlier this was good entertainment and an excellent advert for the game at this level.

At this stage Accies have a team of multi talented players who are not quite getting it together on the pitch. Putting your finger on the problem is not easy as it is a combination of lack of continuity in selection due to injuries and unavailability, bad luck and not getting the bounce of the ball. When it does come together someone is going to get a hammering. How about next week boys?

The good news for Accies supporters that the 2nd XV’s good start to the season as they beat Strathendrick and gain another four try bonus point to notch their fourth win in a row. They now have 19 points from a possible 20. Next week will be their real test as the play east Kilbride, away, who were level with them on points before yesterdays match

This article was posted on 28-Sep-2009, 09:55 by Hugh Barrow.