GHK v IRVINE RFC April 5, 2014
There is nothing quite like going to the ground of a league rival and turning in a performance that leaves the home players and support thinking ‘ouch’ , that was a sore one.
And so it was on Saturday when Irvine came calling to Old Anniesland for a league match that the hosts could not afford to lose. In the first ten/fifteen minutes GHK, whilst not being in complete control, could claim that they were dictating the play and indeed most of the action was taking place deep in the visitors’ half. The fact that GHK could not breach the Irvine line or come away with any points at all was in fact quite indicative of how the game was to unfold.
The Irvine defence seemed pretty confident but it was an attacking force, as the game moved in to the second quarter, that the visitors started to show their mettle. Two well worked quick fire tries by the Irvine full back put the Ayrshire side twelve points up with barely half an hour on the clock. GHK rallied and opened their own account with a Scott Robertson penalty. A couple of other possible shots at goal were rejected as GHK looked for the five/seven pointer. However, Irvine’s all round game, based on very competent tight play and good running lines involving backs and forwards, kept the home side at bay and half time arrived with the score at GHK 3 Irvine 9.
The expected GHK second half onslaught never materialised and Irvine added try number three with forty seven minutes gone when the right wing cut in for a neat score after some crisp handling in midfield. In the regrouping after the score, Jamie McLean replaced Nick Hurn. From the restart, the home replacement looked to have taken out the Irvine receiver whilst he was off the ground. It was a penalty and a yellow card. Unfortunately the Irvine tight head looked to take the administration of restorative justice in to his own hands and came from some distance firing a haymaker in the general direction of a random GHK forward. It appears that Jez Hanks returned the compliment and the referee saw fit to red card both players.
GHK tried to stem the tide, but being down to thirteen men for a period, albeit against fourteen, must have made the main pitch seem like a huge acreage. Despite the home side’s best efforts, the bonus try was not too long in coming and try number five followed with still a fair bit of time on the clock. GHK dug in and limited the damage when it would have been quite possible to cave in altogether. It was a hard shift for the home side and support. However, there was no doubt that Irvine bossed the key areas and seemed able to unlock the GHK defence with damaging regularity. They were confident on their own ball, broke the line frequently and capitalised on most of the scoring opportunities they created despite some spirited tackling.
Final Score GHK 3 Irvine 32
Congratulations Irvine – a deserved and well worked victory. Good luck for the rest of the season and beyond. Despite the flurry of cards, it was a game played in a hard but fair spirit. For GHK, perhaps it was just one of those days where coming second in most of the little battles meant a comprehensive loss. No complaints whatsoever.

This article was posted on 6-Apr-2014, 07:22 by Hugh Barrow.