As the greatest players in Europe strive to get their hands on the Heineken Cup our reporter of the day Stephen Winter has already done just that

Sat 17th October 2009

Greenlaw

Castle Douglas



Visits to Stewartry over the last few seasons have not been easy trips for Accies as the hosts are extremely tough to beat on their home turf. However on a beautiful sunny, calm autumnal day the conditions couldn’t have been better for Accies to play some open entertaining rugby.

The scoreline suggests a relatively easy victory against a side at the bottom of the league and the jungle drums suggested that Stewartry’s pack wasn’t their strongest component but the reality was somewhat different with a pretty beefy Stewartry pack causing Accies a number of problems in the scrum, and with Accies lineout also misfiring, a steady supply of ball was Accies biggest concern but in the end 6 tries from Accies, victory and the bonus point combined with the other scores in the league meant a satisfactory day all round as Accies leapt up the table to 5th place with two home games to come against Hawick YM & Kilmarnock.



The early signals were good as Stewartry kicked off and Accies gained the early territory and pressure and only some stout defence from Stewartry kept Accies at bay.

The first score came as a result of Stewartry kicking to clear and not for the first time Brad Bell fielded and ran back at Stewarty’s defence with real purpose and pace breaking tackles at will. Stewartry scrambled the ball into touch and from the resulting lineout Accies pack drove over with Jack Walker claiming the first try after only 10 minutes.

Accies 5 – Stewartry 0



Stewartry looked to strike back quickly and moved the ball around via forwards and backs trying to stretch Accies’ defence and only a terrific cover tackle from Mike Hermes saved a try however with Accies scrum now constantly under pressure there were some heavy defensive chores to do. This Accies did and did it well as they turned over ball and Craig Wright was sent off on a mazy 50m metre run deep into Stewartry’s 22m which nearly resulted in Accies second try.

Stewartry did strike back soon after with a penalty strike following a sustained period of pressure.

Accies 5 – Stewartry 3



Accies struck back immediately from the re-start, Accies managed to turnover ball and from the following ruck, Cruz Kawakameni burst through the weak defending to run in from 40m untouched by the bamboozled defenders. (Ritchie McKnight converted from under the posts.)

Accies 12 – Stewartry 3



Accies got their third try from a superb solo effort from Stu Smith, quick ball was moved to Stu who, 60m out, beat five Stewartry defenders on his way who just couldn’t cope with Stu’s combination of pace, power and guile as he scored under the posts. (Ritchie McKnight again converting.)

Accies 19 – Stewartry 3



The one thing you’re guaranteed with Stewartry is that they won’t give up and with a strong scrum and a useful pack they kept coming back and continued to pressurise Accies deep in Accies territory, this led to Ritchie McKnight being yellow carded for (wrongly in this scribes view) interfering with the ball at the base of the Stewartry scrum with only a couple of minutes to go to half time.

The resultant pressure ended with Stewartry scoring from the scrum with a pushover try.

Accies 19 – Stewartry 8



This didn’t deter Accies as the 14 man side struck right on half time; Mike Hermes fielded a loose Stewartry clearance kick and put the afterburners on full as he scorched up the right hand side. The cover defence just about had him tied down when up popped Craig Wright from the left wing to take the pass and stroll over for Accies fourth try and the bonus point. (Ben Wilkinson converted)

Accies 26 – Stewartry 8



The second half was pretty unexciting from an Accies perspective for the first 20 mins as Stewartry, realising that their backline were not making any headway against a much superior Accies backline played lots of “up the jumper” & “pick’n’drive” rugby. This is clearly effective in terms of possession but they had no real cutting edge with Accies defence built of the solid brick wall type. The bright lights came when ball was turned over and Accies backline would tear up the park and only scrambling Stewartry defence, and on occasion the odd loose pass would let Accies down.



With 10 minutes to go the game opened up as the Stewartry pack tired meaning less pressure in the scrums and Ritchie McKnight intercepted a pass to run 50m to score in the corner.

Accies 31 – Stewartry 8



Like all good things the best was kept to the last as Accies finished off in style with the try of the day. An excellent lineout steal by Man of the Match – Sandy Fitzpatrick meant quick ball, Accies went for the jugular and moved wide quickly with Mike Hermes blazing past his opposite man on a 30m run. Again the scramble cover came across but Dougie Horner was in support for the inside pass and then Craig Wright looping all the way round from the left wing took the final pass to score in the corner. It was great to see the real pace men all involved.

Accies 36 – Stewartry 8



With the game well and truly won and their minds on the bus Accies let their guard down and Stewartry scored a converted consolation try by their powerful No.8.



Final Score: Accies 36 – Stewartry 15



Overall a good day at the office in terms of the final score, in reality Accies front row had a bad day and the lineout misfired most of the day, however the backline sparkled and Sandy Fitzpatrick marshalled the pack into shape so there’s still plenty for Coaches Reid & Afuakwah to work on but with a full strength front row, Steve Begley and Graeme Simpson to return to the pack it looks promising for the next two weeks home fixtures against Hawick YM & Kilmarnock.












Stephen

This article was originally posted on 18-Oct-2009, 17:21 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 18-Oct-2009, 17:59.