GHK vs Forrester FP

On not the best of afternoons weatherwise the team set off from OA in hearty spirit. Off to Edinburgh for what promised to be a good game and surprisingly good weather. Forrester play on pitches adjacent to a new secondary school in South Gyle.

We took on the wind and the slope of the pitch in the first half and could tell from the start that it was going to be an interesting afternoon. Great start with a McT break from his unaccustomed position at full back, support from Thow and a try for Shedden our trusty scrum half. Conversion by Chippie and 7 points in the bag after 5 minutes. Two conceded penalties later it was 6 - 7 and the home team tried exposing our midfield with a pacey break, and centre support which led to a well worked try. 13 - 7 for the home side, an advantage that lasted less than 10 minutes with Danny scoring off a good touchline break and good offloading. 13 - 12.

Into the second quarter and the home side snatched another try with their winger scoring as a result of some poor tackling. Converted and after another penalty the score was 23 - 15 at half time.

Our team formed a huddle while Disco our leader had a word with the referee about the first half breakdown decisions. Better work than having a half time swig of water to help the flu! Could a secret have been learned for the second half?

The second half began strongly with Rory making a good break spoilt by a knock on in the opposition 22 allowing them upfield and to win a penalty after 5 minutes, score now 26 -15. Could another penalty miss by the visitors and a sin binning after 10 minutes change the momentum of the game? Touchline joy (not for the home support) as Rory Love offloaded after a good break allowing GHK to score anothyer try 26 - 22. Our pack continued to produce good ball and even two missed penalties didn't spoil the team's verve and desire to play a hard expansive game. Pete Broadbent was then rewarded for his hard work with a try worked out of some consolidated pressure in the opposition half, failure to convert left the score at a 1 point lead 26 - 27.

In the last quarter the boys worked eagerly to win ball through phases and were again rewarded by a Rory try skinning the home side defence close to the touchline. 26 - 32. In the dying minutes another penalty award in front of the posts took the score to 26 - 35 and at full time play was halted by the referee after our captain's hasty effort to kick to touch nearly failed - destiny of red dress assured! Victory and a bonus point cheered up the visiting support!

Lessons from the day are that a good bus journey obviously rallies the troops into action - they showed a willingness to commit hard to the game and fight for the duration of the match. The pack showed that despite one or two changes the unit can overcome opposition weight advantage......our midfield defence must get better though.

Team - 15 A McTavish;14 F Campbell-Young;13 C Breckenridge;12 D Hoffman;11 R Love;10 S. O'Donnell;9 A Shedden;1 A Forbes;2 G Reid;3 C McLay;4 A Drummond;5 H Parker;6 P Broadbent;7 A Neilson;8 E Thow
Subs A Dickson, R Brookbanks, M Tuominen

VP

This article was posted on 26-Oct-2009, 15:23 by Forbes Dunlop.

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This article was posted on 26-Oct-2009, 23:15 by Hugh Barrow.