New post on Glasgow Accies Rugby Club


We’re better than Glasgow!
by Webmaster
Loch Lomond Match Report; a Cub-Reporter writes.....

We’re better than Glasgow Warriors! Oh, yes we are!

Well, in one department at any rate: this morning’s Daily Telegraph reported that Gregor Townsend had used 34 players so far this season to reach the dizzy heights of the top of the RaboPro Direct. But that’s nothing. Coach Coups today fielded a blend of youth and experience that took our own total to 35 players so far his session, quite remarkable when we consider that there were a number of others who’d also been pressing their credentials hard for selection this week!

Good numbers at training over the past month have meant that competition for places in not just the 1st XV but also in the 2nd’s has never been fiercer at NA in the last 10 years - the times, ladies and gentlemen, “they are a changin” !“

And so, for this first round Shield tie against Loch Lomond, today’s team featured a number of debutants in both the forwards and the backs - and didn’t they do well? A 12 pts to 76 win (yes, for all you mathematicians out there, that’s 12 tries to 2 conceded) is a great score by any account, but for an uneasy first quarter, it didn’t appear that our Boys-in-Blue were going to have it all their own way!

Why? Well, our pack (average age 20.5 years) simply didn’t know what had hit them from the outset. Let’s be honest, the Loch Lomond forwards are not stuffed full of ex-Internationalists but what they do have is age, life-experience, (very considerable) weight, physicality and sheer bloody-mindedness. And whilst we flattered to deceive in the first 5 minutes, a couple of mistakes gave LL field position and from a resultant line-out, they simply powered over the line with 8 men in unison to gain the first score. With the conversion to follow, 7 points on the board, there’s no doubt - the home support genuinely believed that the “poofs” from the city were in for a “gubbing”.

The next 15 mins saw Accies with the better of the play, CalDal & Kenny B making incisive runs and our backs, floating around like models on a catwalk, looked good but, ultimately, failed to deliver anything meaningful. Plus ca change, gentlemen? We probed and pressed around the midfield but one or other of the LL “monsters” always seemed to get in the way. The scrums looked pretty tight, with good shape, but our line-outs didn’t really function in the way we’ve come to expect. And then, perhaps the talking point of the match occurred: full-back Ross Cowan kicked ahead in a relatively promising move, it was fielded by a LL player, he off-loaded, and was then quite unceremoniously (and literally) put into Emergency Ward 10 @ Vale of Leithen Hospital with the force of the follow-up tackle. Was it a late one? Well, let’s be honest, for us the boy was committed, so no, it wasn’t: if it’d happened against us, we’d have howled derision. It was (this scribe genuinely believes), a 50 / 50 and a hard one to call without the benefit of the TMO though doubtless the Beechwood Loyal will view this incident differently.

But they breed ‘em hard ‘round Balloch-way - the lad required attention and subsequence conveyance via ambulance to the aforesaid hospital - but credit to the LL boys after a 45 minute stoppage: they simply “got-their-shit-together”, came right back at us and once again scored off an 8 man drive following a line-out that WE lost. Though the conversion was missed, Accies were then 12-0 down and staring at an ignominious exit from the Shield competition.

But our luck broke after what seemed like an interminable period of “ping-pong” when none of the 30 players on the park seemed able to actually catch a ball, and somehow we managed to win a scrum: Ben F broke off on its the blind side, off-loaded to Mike Hermes and the veteran showed a clean pair of heels to the covering defence to give us our first try, which duly converted by Seato. 12 - 7 then, and we were back in it.

And we were back on the scoresheet pretty quickly thereafter: a midfield scrum saw Ben F break again, off-load to FB Ross who took the hit but managed to off-load to Kenny B who not only ran a great line to take that pass, but showed that he’s fully recovered from early season injury and really stretched his legs to power over from 20 m to secure our second under the posts. Lovely stuff, big chap: Seato duly did the necessary and, at 12 - 14 we were starting to “cook with gas”.

Young Kris Boyle was next to get his name on the scoresheet. Though newly shorn of the facial hair that quite disturbed his lovely (and touchline stalwart) Mum, the bold boy who’d started at 6 for us this week was simply in the right place at the right time to take an off-load from Gus and power through 3 convincing attempted tackles on his way to a 30m romp, and 5 point glory. Seato the did the necessary and all of a sudden it was 12 - 19 to us.

Seato himself did the honours next time up and then CalDal made a quite fantastic break after a line-out over throw, off-loading to Ben F who went through for the next one. And with both being duly converted and half-time approaching, we were looking comfortable at 12 - 33, particularly when LL kept giving up field position for persistently coming in from the side.

And that proved to be something of a theme for the second half - LL coming in from the side, I mean. Basically, it led to 2 yellow cards being wielded by a patient ref who’d hitherto been understanding but by this time simply had enough of their “shenanigans” at the breakdown. Seato “staggered” to his second, debutant Calum Brooker (on at 9 for Ben F) made a great break for FB Ross to go over again (he’d have scored himself if he’d had a proper set of studs in his boots!!) , and our very own Capt. America, Mr Brad Bell went over for another well-deserved try under the posts.

By this point, with 54 points on the board, we were into the next round and Coach Coups rang the changes: Gaffer was replaced by his brother and Ker Malcolm, was subbed before the red-mist descended. Westy, his replacement, was immediately introduced to the “rigours” of senior rugby via a flying knee from a quite charming member of the LL back-row, but credit to the young man, he didn’t step backwards and, at just 18 years of age, gave as good as he got for the rest of the game.

Ross then went in again for another score, Mikey H proved there’s life in old dogs with his second (Steph will be so proud!!), and after another blistering break from CalDal, Callum B didn’t slip over his arse and got his debut try for the club - the first of many it’s predicted, and you heard it here first!!

Deservedly, CalDal concluded matters with perhaps and somewhat ironically, the least effort he’d put into any one move all match: like all good flankers, he was in the right space, at the right time, and he did the right thing: 12 - 76 then, with Seato popping over the “extras”. The ref, looking at his watch, arguably blew up a tad early, but it didn’t really matter, we were through to the next round.

By all accounts, that means we’ll be meeting (thank-you Murrayfield) RBS West 1 table-topping GHK in the next round. There’s no doubt we’ll have to move up a couple of gears if we’re going to give them the beating they deserve (!) after their own 44 - 10 win over Glens today, but you know what, with the resilience our youngsters showed today, this scribe for one is not so sure the bookies will be that keen to take any wager against us.

MOTM: for us, that’s a tough Q. In the forwards, “Les Freres Robbo” had a good debut, Gav Paul worked hard and scrummaged well, Kenny B showed that he’s getting back to full fitness with a strong performance, CalDal had a number of impressive breaks and nothing, whatsoever, got past Kris B on the blindside. In the backs, Gus ran some great lines throughout the afternoon, Seato distributed pretty well and FB Ross ran, ball in hand, with the poise and eagerness of a gazelle searching out a mate for the season. But, in this scribes humble opinion, MOTM this week goes to Master Ker Malcolm: lively from the outset, on the front foot at each and every breakdown, (by and large) accurate at the line-out and a front-row forward who was genuinely willing to have a go - your try will come wee man!

Ref Watch: David wasn’t bad at all. Spare a thought for him - he’s off to do Killie v Irvine next week!!

And finally, a word about our hosts, Loch Lomond. Running a rugby club in what is clearly NOT a rugby heartland is an extremely difficult task. Resources at Beechwood are obviously scant but Stephen Daly and a few pals are doing a great job of spreading the “rugby-word” within their catchment - more power to their collective elbow. We wish them well in their endeavors this season.

Right, that’s it everyone: it’s a Sat night, and I’m going back to my bottle of Shiraz!

Chin-chin!!



Webmaster | October 6, 2013

This article was posted on 6-Oct-2013, 06:26 by Hugh Barrow.