Accies were 5 – 0 down before many of the supporters had left the bar and taken their places on the touch line. From a knock on over Accies line the Glens pack turned the Accies 8 at the subsequent 5 metres scrum, this turned Accies back row away from the blind side and Glens scrum half used the advantage to put his winger over for a simple try. 0-5

This was a very hard fought match earlier in the season and this showed how determined Glens were to have their revenge for the last minute drop goal that deprived them of victory. So it was somewhat of a surprise to Glens supporters that Accies created a real opportunity, virtually from the kick off, and scored after 1 minute of their try and duly converted to give accies a 7-5 lead, after 3 minutes.

This proved to be a clear warning to Glens of the attitude and approach of Accies today and they proceeded to produce one of the best performances from an Accies side seen at NA in many years, to the great delight of the loyal supporters such as Ken Waine, ever present and supportive at NA.

Accies coach had revamped his back row and half back partnerships and this was too prove a really good decision. Stuart Gray and Ben Frame controlled all aspects of the game with outstanding distribution and well placed kicking from hand. Stuart’s place kicking was also very impressive.

The back row also played a vital part in controlling the breakdown and creating positives from defence. This combination allowed Accies to play some really positive rugby with backs and forwards combining to score 5 quality tries in the first half. Not least of these was scored by prop Elliott MacLaren in the left hand corner, with the scoring pass being given by his second row colleague Kiran MacDonald. Modern rugby at its best.

We also saw Accies hooker, Ker Malcolm, run 40 metres, knocking tacklers to the ground and finally doing a “Gregor Townsend” pass behind his back to the supporting back who beat the next defender and passed inside to the supporting player to score. Great try from a spectator’s perspective but real quality for any rugby team.

A great first 40 minutes from Accies meant they finished the first half 32-5 ahead. Accies were playing aggressive, entertaining rugby and every member of the team played their part.

Most games go through a quiet period and that was true of this game. Glens came out determined to restore some pride but Accies were in no mood to let them and the game bounced between the 22’s. It was Accies backs who started to dominate the game and with Stuart Gray once again controlling the game Accies reasserted their dominance.

3 more quality tries was the result and would you believe it one was score by Elliott MacLaren, and not a maul in site.

This was a complete performance from Accies with the pack dominating their heavier counterparts, both in the tight and loose and the backs playing with pace and intelligence to thoroughly deserve this victory.

Another very positive sign from today’s game was the contribution of all the players who came off the bench. They made a real contribution and demonstrate the strength in depth now on offer to our coaching team.

At 52-5 ahead with minutes left Accies took their foot off the pedal and Glens took advantage to score a last minute try to finish the game at 52-12

Our last game is on March 22 against Lenzie, at New Anniesland, and I am sure this side will want to finish the season on a high so I would encourage anyone who is free on that day to come down to New Anniesland and join in a good day of rugby and socialising. This is a side worth watching as they try playing rugby and entertaining. See you then!

Ref Watch: today’s man-in-the-middle, Andy Summers, made his debut at NA today and even before the k/o, there was never any doubt about who was going to be in charge of proceedings. Positive from the outset, clear in his instructions to players throughout and taking no nonsense from anyone all day, it’s a sad fact that such refs are pretty thin on the ground. Unfortunately for us all in West 1 his performance was being assessed by the powers that be , so it’s likely that he’ll be moving up a few divisions in the near future – our loss and their gain. 8.5/10

MOTM: take your pick: a number of guys played out of position but never looked out of place, and our tackling all round against a much heavier pack was almost flawless. After clubhouse debate however, the “honour” goes to no.10, Stewart Gray.

This article was posted on 3-Mar-2014, 14:05 by Hugh Barrow.