League rugby is underway.Could GHK's good pre-season form be carried on in to the leagues?
A decent sized throng turned out on a sunny but breezy afternoon at OA to find out.

GHK kicked off long and were up quickly to put great pressure on Marr ,ending up with turnover ball from a ruck in front of the posts.Good handling put Gordi Reid in at the corner for an unconverted try. 5-0 within a minute. Regrettably that was to be GHK's only high point in a first half that was "marred" by indiscipline/ over anxiety as GHK proceeded to give away a string of penalties and free kicks ( at one point the penalty count was 7 - 0 against within the first 12 mins) with the very real possibility of a yellow card for persistent infringement.
Hard won territory with some very good running,handling and support play was lost through penalties.Marr took full advantage,kicking penalties from the 10 metre line on 8 mins , score 5-3, and having missed one from the half way line,then slotted another from closer range to make the score 5-6 after 10 mins.
Things got harder for GHK when first Thow(back)and Drummond(shoulder)were injured in quick succession and were off for the rest of the game.The rejigged pack was under intense pressure at both scrum and lineout and Rory McCormick and Danny Campbell did exceptionally well to deal with increasingly disrupted ball. GHK's backs who looked very sharp throughout were being starved of decent ball from the set piece.
The penalty count continued to mount up over the remainder of the first half but Marr were also entering in to the spirit and a penalty to GHK was well converted by Andrew Fleming in 32 mins to make it 8-6. In 35 mins another penalty against GHK for off-side gave Marr another long range chance ,which was missed, but another a minute later for handling on the ground 35 metres out was converted to put Marr ahead 8-9.
A further penalty to Marr for off-side on 38 mins allowed Marr to set up an attacking lineout 15 metres from GHK's line. Some good defence and strong tackling held Marr out but almost inevitably from a further well taken lineout,Marr drove over for an unconverted try in the corner to make it 8-14 at half time.
Any hopes that GHK could start to gain some momentum in the second half were quickly dashed when the ball was dropped from the Marr kick off and GHK were penalised at the resultant ruck. Marr kicked the penalty for 8-17. GHK did then put together some good passages of play with periods of pressure in the Marr half but a mixture of good defence from Marr and difficulty in getting the last pass away kept the Marr line intact. A break out by Marr with good hands and a kick and chase to the corner was well covered by GHK. The resultant 22 drop out was run back by Marr who put pressure on with a series of rucks and GHK were again penalised. The penalty was missed. In 60 mins a Marr scissors in the centre and strong run took Marr to the GHK line. Some strong tackling from GHK kept Marr out. The back row performed heroics to defend from the Marr scrum and GHK were awarded a penalty with Andrew Fleming finding a long touch to relieve the pressure.
With GHK's re-arranged pack under the cosh in both scrum and lineout it was clear that running penalties and free kicks rather than working the touch line may prove more fruitful and GHK looked very dangerous with ball in hand. One or two chances were spurned but GHK now had renewed confidence. Regrettably in 65 mins ,just as GHK were threatening,Marr won good ruck ball and a break by their scrum half and some missed tackles allowed him to feed inside to the No.8 who touched down to the left of the posts. Try converted 8-24.
Murray Wiseman took a knock and was replaced by Liam McIntyre at middle row.All GHK subs now used.
GHK continued to make good ground with strong running from Danny Hoffman,Andy Shedden and Andrew Fleming,well supported by Mike Borthwick and Gordi Reid. Marr were now giving away numerous penalties and GHK kept up the pressure. The Marr winger was yellow carded for deliberate blocking of what looked like a scoring pass to Rory Love. The penalty was run in to the Marr 22 but was lost in the maul and Marr cleared upfield to GHK's 22.
GHK continued to run everything at Marr for the remaining 15 mins but,more often than not,couldn't get the last pass away. GHK finally did get another try on the scoreboard. Following a quickly taken lineout the ball was moved well and Rory Love scored under the posts for a converted try , 15-24.
Play went to the other end and Marr missed a penalty from pretty much in front of the posts. GHK threw the ball about and had several good breaks but ran out of time. A final flurry of hands saw the ball moved to the wing but Marr cover got across to tackle Rory Love in to touch. Full time 15-24.
GHK generally ran well and made some good breaks with good support and interpassing but couldn't get the last pass away often enough to get the scoreboard ticking. The early injuries in the pack meant that the forwards were always under pressure in both scrum and lineout and without a solid platform it was extremely difficult for Danny Campbell and Rory McCormick,who performed heroics, to get on the front foot to provide the backs with go forward ball.Cutting out the number of penalties would also substantially help our cause.
Hopefully our walking wounded will make a quick recovery and we can bounce back to form for next weeks game at Gordonians.

This article was posted on 30-Aug-2010, 14:27 by Hugh Barrow.