Stewartry RFC 17 Glasgow Accies 24
Greenlaw, Castle Douglas
Saturday 6th November 2010

Accies First Away Win

A happy and relieved Accies side travelled back from Castle Douglas on Saturday evening having gained their first away win of the season. In the end it was a close result but Accies deserved their victory thanks to an outstanding performance by their forward in the second half.
Turning around at half time at 10-10 and playing up the slight slope they pinned their opponents back inside their own half for all of 30 minutes most of it in their 22. For the first 10 minutes of this period they had to play with only 7 forwards as Graeme Ker had been yellow carded on the stroke of half time.
It was a huge effort and rewarded by two excellent tries by their threequarters who were given an ample supply of the ball.
The improvement in this much-maligned pack was dramatic. They scrummaged much better, the line out work was of a high order and they gave away very little possession for much of the game. They did all this despite the loss of Jack Walker in the 20th minute with a recurrence of the shoulder injury that has kept him on the sidelines for most of the season.

Stewartry kicked off and for the first 8 minutes Accies played scintillating rugby in real sevens style. The ball was moved backwards and forwards across the line and it looked as if Stewartry were going to be simply run off their feet. There was only one problem, they could not complete these movements and only 3 points were scored from the boot of Ali McLaren.
In the 8th minute it all came to a grinding halt. A first tackle was missed and by the time the second tackle came in Stewartry had created an overlap and promptly scored an unconverted try in the left hand corner 5-3.
For the remainder of the half Accies had difficulty in establishing further back moves mainly due to the high penalty count against them. Time after time promising situations came to nothing and invariable Stewartry were awarded a penalty that took them out of the danger zone and back into Accies half.
In the 23rd minute and out of the blue the Stewartry hooker emerged from a ruck with the ball and ran unopposed 25 metres to the line to score their second try.
10-3
In the 31st minute Accies were awarded a penalty and Ali McLaren kicked it into touch close to the goal line. A well-organised lineout take followed and Claudio Urra was driven over for a try converted by Ali McLaren.
10-10 and back in the game.
Half time
It had been a strange half with Accies backs playing ‘Fancy Dan’ rugby and looking as if they could overwhelm their opponents but unable to score tries and Stewartry taking two simple chances and looking dangerous from every breakdown. It was sure to be an interesting second half and so it proved to be.
As noted above the Accies pack took over and it did not take long to get the scoreboard moving.
In the 2nd minute Accies won a scrum in the top right hand corner and moved it wide enough for Mike Hermes to come in from the right wing and sail through the gap for a real training ground try beautifully executed. Ali McLaren kicked the easy conversion 17-10.
10 minutes later it seemed to everyone in the ground except the referee that Stewart Smith had scored a try. He burst through with one would be tackler hanging on and appeared to score. The referee said he was unsighted and did not see him touch it down. This decision probably cost Accies the four-try bonus point.
Undaunted by this set back Accies continued to press and in the 66th minute their efforts were awarded with a try when Craig Wright squeezed through the gap created by another excellent handling move. Again Ali McLaren converted.
10-24 and beginning to look comfortable.
With 10 minutes remaining it was reckoned that other than from kick off’s Stewartry had not crossed the half way line, but in the 70th minute they did and promptly scored. A penalty took them into the 22 where they won a lineout and spun the ball wide. Accies defence opened up like the Red Sea and the centre sailed straight through the gap for a converted try. On reflection it seemed that two Accies players had collided thus creating the gap. However it caused the alarm bells to ring and for 10 minutes Accies had to defend with their lives. There was no chance of the bonus point now as Stewartry were desperately trying to save the game.
There was much to admire in Accies performance not least a big step up in guts and determination, good safe handling when in possession and scummaging and lineout that looked solid throughout.
There is no fixture next week and the player can take a break and give their bodies a rest after 11 Saturday’s in a row.
On November 20th Accies are away again, this time to Newton Stewart.

This article was posted on 7-Nov-2010, 12:09 by Hugh Barrow.