Good morning everyone,
With only two league matches left before the Christmas and New Year break excitement is mounting at New Anniesland as the final run in for promotion places has started. This Saturday Accies are at home to Caithness, please note that the kick off is at 1-00pm to allow the boys from Thurso to get home at a reasonable hour. Caithness are dangerous opponents and Accies have a relatively poor record against them. Away from home they are normally short of players due to the commitment involved in travelling every second Saturday but even so they have a notoriously tight defence.
In the September game a weakened Accies side went down by 17-0 at Thurso but Accies are playing much better than that now and will certainly be looking for a win first and then, hopefully, the precious bonus point for 4 tries. They are minus three regulars, Steve Begley, Richard McKnight and Jamie Doig who are all at a wedding but the news is not all bad as Stewart Smith may be back and Dougie Horner could get his first start of the season. Back row forward Jack Walker returned to the fray in the 2nd XV at Cambuslang on Saturday and Chris Wright the dynamic open sider has also recovered from injury. There are any number of 2nd XV players pushing for places so the team selection should be an interesting one.
Another good reason for coming to New Anniesland on Saturday is that Magners cider are having a sampling session after the match to promote the Magners League match between Glasgow and Edinburgh at Firhill on 27th December. Two of the Glasgow players will also be there to help with the promotion.
On top of all that you get two games for the price of one as Accies 2nd XV are playing West of Scotland at
2-00pm
Last Saturday we got the disappointing news that Lasswade beat Greenock Wanderers by 15-13. This was Wanderers first defeat of the season. Apparently Wanderers were leading 13-8 late in the game when Lasswade scored a try and converted it from far out. This means that Lasswade are one point ahead of Accies with 9 games to play, 4 at home and 5 away. Accies have 8 games remaining, four at home and four away.
The crucial game for Accies is at Greenock a week on Saturday 19th December. please be there to cheer them on.

Alasdair Graham
 

This article was posted on 9-Dec-2009, 08:39 by Hugh Barrow.