Match Report v Gordonians

A better but nevertheless patchy performance by GHK at windy Gordonians produced a 23 - 23 draw.

On the plus side,the GHK scrummage was solid and generally provided a good platform whilst also regularly disrupting the opposition scrum. However several free kicks and a couple of penalties relieved the pressure on the opposition pack.The lineout was also much improved with some good clean takes and some drives whilst also disrupting their ball and stealing the odd throw. On the down side ,the wind caused some problems and several lineouts were lost with misdirected throws/poor timing. Strangely having taken good ball,GHK lost possession in the subsequent maul/ruck on occasion but Gordonians were equally generous with some turnover tit for tat.
Gordonians made good use of the following wind,keeping GHK in their own half for much of the first period. Good defence from GHK caused Gordonians to knock on/drop passes and give away penalties but only very limited ground could be gained from clearance kicks in to the strong wind. Quick taps and close support play might have been tried more often but GHK were guilty of poor/dropped passing and not finding the support player.
A Gordonian penalty found touch in the corner inside GHK's 22. Gordonians secured the lineout and drove,the ball was then moved to the left,strong running and some half tackling provided Gordonians with a half break and the supporting middle row took the inside pass for a try at the posts. Converted , 7-0 in 14 mins.
A cross kick from Gordonians resulted in a sclaffed attempted volley from Rory Love which foiled the Gordonians attack but also pinged in to our players in front of the ball. The offside penalty was converted. 10-0 after 17 mins. GHK then had a good spell; disrupting several Gordonian scrums and stealing ball. Strong runs from forwards and backs made good ground and some excellent interpassing resulted with Rory Love making amends with a nicely timed inside pass to Greg Woolard,who showed good support running throughout the game, to score a well worked try on 22 mins. Andy Fleming converted the tricky conversion to make the score 10-7.
Gordonians continued to use the wind to push GHK back in to their own 22 but turnover and penalties allowed GHK to slowly push back up the pitch. However in loose play,GHK were penalised for holding a player off the ball. GHK had a let off when Gordonians hit the post with the penalty.
A quick tap penalty brought one of several good runs from Andy Fleming but having done the hard work a loose pass failed to find the support. GHK got the bounce of the ball off a poor clearance from Gordonians and good interpassing ended with Greg Woolard again in support being denied a second score being adjudged to have produced a double movement when tackled just short of the line. The referee ruled no advantage and took play back to award GHK a penalty on the 22. Andy Fleming produced another excellent kick to bring the scores level at 10-10 in 35 mins.
Rory McCormick ( blood injury) was replaced by Pete Ritchie. Gordonians kicked long and Andy Fleming cleared to 30 metres. GHK won turnover ball and Danny Hoffman produced a nice half break,slipping the ball to Rory Love at pace. Rory made good ground but a loose off load was taken by Gordonians who moved the ball left to the winger who kicked and chased to score in the left hand corner. The try was well converted. Half time score 17-10.
Michael Aird moved from scrum half to replace John Shannon at fly half, with Danny Campbell coming in at scrum half.Rory McCormick came back on.
Gordonians kick off went deep to Danny Hoffman who passed to Andy Fleming for the expected downfield boomer. However the pass was poor/knocked on. The Gordonian scrum was disrupted but the ball was retained. GHK put in a series of tackles but a penalty to Gordonians in front of the posts was converted. 20-10 within one minute of the restart.
GHK put that behind them and from the restart began to put together some consistent attacks but good interpassing and support play was too often let down by knock ons and turnovers allowing Gordonians to regain possession and break in to GHK's half. Anxiety began to creep in as GHK's play became more frantic with GHK perhaps over-doing their running game when better use of the strong wind could have gained immediate territory and forced Gordonians to either run from deep or lose ground with short kicks to touch. The penny dropped when GHK were awarded a penalty in their own 22 and cleared to well in to Gordonian's half. In 67 mins Andy Fleming slotted a long range penalty to get GHK back to 20-13. Gordonians then missed a penalty in 70 mins from 30 metres in front of the posts and Andy Fleming kicked another penalty in 74 mins to make it 20-16. A minute later,good handling to the left released Rory Love who turned on the afterburners to out pace the defence and rounded in the in-goal area to dot down under the posts. Converted to put GHK in the lead for the first time at 20-23.
Gordonians pressed hard for the remainder of the game. A Tony Herron 65m clearance from the GHK 22 looked as though it would allow GHK to keep Gordonians hemmed in to their own half and see out the game but a penalty for scrummage infringement let Gordonians get the ball back to near half way. Good tackling by GHK ended with a Gordonian scrum on GHK's 10 metre line and strong running and rucking kept the pressure on GHK. GHK defended well but after series of tackles and rucks,GHK were penalised in front of the posts. Gordonians converted with the last kick of the game.
Final score 23 - 23.

VP

This article was posted on 6-Sep-2010, 11:17 by Lindsay Kerr.

Click here to return to the previous page

 

This article was posted on 6-Sep-2010, 19:45 by Hugh Barrow.