Glasgow Accies 31 Annan 10

New Anniesland

30th October 2010

On another sunny day at New Anniesland Annan kicked off three times in the first six minutes. Accies gathered the ball from the initial kick off and immediately started to run with it. Across and then forward crisscrossing the field until it reached Mike Hermes who raced home from 40 metres for the opening try. A mesmerising bit of handling that left the opposition bemused. Not content with that they repeated it again but this time with forwards involved. Mike had more to do this time and had to cut inside to skin the fullback and the remaining cover before touching down between the posts before Ali McLaren converted to make the score 12-0. Welcome back Mike we have missed you for the last three weeks.

What a start and just the tonic Accies needed after two defeats in a row.

From the third kick off Annan made sure that they were not caught on the hop again. Their big forwards started to take control of their younger and lighter opponents. They rumbled and rolled up the pitch to good effect controlling the ball in the rucks and mauls and keeping the ball well away from the Accies back division that were clearly hoping to show their power and pace again. They camped themselves on Accies line like refugees at a French port waiting for an opportunity to pop over. Fortunately for Accies their defence was tighter than the UK border control officials and they were kept at bay. Twice they seemed to be over but the referee denied them a score.

Eventually Annan were penalised and Accies broke out of the camp in numbers and swarmed up field. A penalty by McLaren took them deep into the 22 and from where the lineout was won cleanly and again Accies backs showed what they could do with left-winger Craig Wright coming into the line on the right and going clean through the gap to score close to the posts for McLaren to convert 19-0. With this kick Ali broke through the 100-point barrier for the season so far.

Sixteen minutes of the game played and it was now clear how the game was going to be played. Annan would have most of the possession and their forwards would stuff it up their shirt and Accies would wait for a mistake and counter attack. From a spectators point of view it was mainly turgid but with enough times of inspiration to keep you interested and so it continued till half time.

The early cushion of twelve points was just as well as Accies were seeing precious little ball and becoming frustrated. The main problem was they did not challenge the lineouts and the counter rucking was power puff in strength. Nobody seemed to be prepared to hit the ruck at pace being happy to allow Annan to retain the ball in the knowledge that the defence and tackling were secure. The scrummaging with Fabi Marchetti back at tight head, after three weeks absence, looked secure and Matteo Giovanazzi took several balls against the head. The lineout had a few wobbles mainly it seemed through a lack of communication.

The second half followed the pattern of the first and it took Accies 15 minutes to get down into their opponents 22. When they did they got a rather fortuitous try. Graeme Simpson charged down the stand off’s clearance kick and Graeme Ker got his hands to it before anyone else for a try beside the posts that Ali McLaren converted. 26-0 and the bonus point was safely in the locker.

Once again Annan bounced back but this time they gathered enough momentum, following an Accies attack that broke down in midfield, to breach the Accies defence and score a well worked try. 26-7.

They continued to keep up the pressure and with 10 minutes to go Graeme Simpson was yellow carded for a technical offence and from the subsequent penalty they kicked the goal 26-10. Accies early twelve point lead was beginning to look really valuable.

From the kick off Accies secured the ball and Annan were penalised. The kick took the ball into the left hand corner where it was won cleanly and spun across the line to the opposite side. Annan were penalised twice more and on each occasion Accies took a quick tap. From the second one they created enough space for American fullback Brad Bell to skate over for the final score. 31-10

It was good to be back on the winning trail even if the display was a bit patchy. There is certainly potential even if the pack is on the light side. More aggression is required up front especially in protecting the ball at the breakdown in counter rucking. No doubt this will be worked on at training this week.

Next Saturday Accies are back on their travels this time to Stewartry in Castle Douglas. The kick off is at 2pm

This article was posted on 1-Nov-2010, 13:51 by Hugh Barrow.