Glasgow Accies RFC v Dumfries Saints RFC
Played on 11th January 2020 at New Anniesland
Accies put up a brave fight against League leaders.
Dumfries arrived at New Anniesland surprised by the superb conditions they encountered. Thanks to Robert and his team the pitch was firm and therefore eminently playable, unlike many pitches around the country. The Dumfries players were clearly full of confidence and one or two of their supporters were, I think it would be safe to say, supremely confident.
The encouragingly good number of supporters who had come to New Anniesland, on this wet and cold day, had hardly taken their seats than Dumfries were over the try line. A mistake at the kick-off resulted in a lineout inside Accies 22, on the stand side, which Dumfries won and with some quick passes and accurate running from their strong back division their outside centre carved through Accies defence to score under the posts, what a start. 0 – 7
It could not have been a worse start for Accies and even the confident Dumfries supporters were surprised. There was a silence amongst Accies supporters as they waited to see if their team would be demoralised by such a quick set back. Well, they needn’t have worried. Accies attacked Dumfries from the kick-off and whether it was with ball in hand or when they were defending they put their opponents under real pressure. They worked themselves deep into Dumfries’s danger zone and after several well controlled pick and goes by the forwards they were rewarded with a try by Ryan Sweeney. A good conversion from out on the right by Gregor Macewan was a just reward. 7 – 7
Accies were now looking like the team in control and were maintaining the tempo of hard running and strong defence and Dumfries looked shocked. This effort was then rewarded with a penalty just outside the 22 and to the left of the posts. Up stepped a confident Gregor Macewan to add another 3 points and Accies were ahead. 10 – 7
Could there be an upset on the cards? Well before the crowd had gathered themselves than Accies went to sleep and I can only describe it as they gave away an exceptionally soft try, when the clearance from the kick was not dealt with. 10 – 12
No side can afford to give away points to teams of the calibre of this Dumfries side. This try was a clear encouragement to Dumfries and they were now on top. Some strong running off the back of scrums and a good back division once again produced a gap in what had been a good defensive effort, and their third try was scored. 10 – 17
So despite a brilliant effort for most of the first half and giving away two soft tries Accies were still very much in this game. Accies were now trailing by only 7 points. They picked up the pace of their game and once again looked liked they knew how to control this game and this resulted in a period camped inside Dumfries’s 22 and from some very good patient work by the pack they produced a chance for Ryan Sweeney to cross for his second try. However, this was wideout on the right and a good conversion attempt slide past. 15 – 17
So despite the difference in league positions Accies were by no means out of this contest when the whistle was blown for the end of the first half.
Half-time 15 – 17
Accies started the second half and had clearly had a positive talk at half-time. They were running hard and once again keeping their opponents pinned back in their 22. From a misdemeanour, at yet another ruck Gregor Macewan once again stepped up to convert the penalty into points and put Accies ahead for the second time. 18 – 17
Accies were on top for the first 20 minutes and it looked as if Accies could be capable of springing a real upset here. However Dumfries are where they are in the league because they are capable of taking advantage of any slip-up by their opponents, so when the kick off after the penalty was spilled on Accies 22 they lifted their game and spirits. Their key players cajoled their team mates and they went on the attack, and for the third time in the game Accies gave away a very soft try. The ball was chipped from just outside Accies 22 into Accies danger zone and the bouncing ball was not dealt with by the Accies defence and as it crossed the line one of the Dumfries players fell on it. 18 – 22.
With 8 minutes left to play Accies were still in losing bonus territory and were in fact still capable of scoring again. They tried really hard to lift their game but a couple of soft penalties and Accies were once again defending their line and it felt inevitable that Dumfries would find a gap and put Accies outside any bonus points. Forward drives produced the opportunity for their 5th try and Accies were left with 5 minutes to pull something out of this encounter but with the conversion they put themselves 11 points clear. 18 – 29
Accies kept trying and with a couple of superb breaks they were once again inside Dumfries territory and the desperately needed 5 points just didn’t appear. A great effort and a game of great commitment and skill had resulted in a closer encounter than many were expecting.
Full-time 18 – 29
Accies coaches woke up on Saturday to be told that 3 of the players had succumbed to food poisoning and would be unable to play. So there started some frantic phone calls which resulted in Ryan Sweeney and Jack McLean joining the team at the 11th hour. Never a good start to an important game, but the players all stepped up and could leave New Anniesland proud of their efforts. This was a game that nobody expected Accies to win so it was to the players’ immense credit that the general opinion at the end of this encounter was that they were unlucky not to get something out of the game. However, if Accies can reproduce this performance and not give away 3 soft tries per game they will win more games than they lose in the run into the end of the season.
Again many thanks to Bob Johnstone for a great pictorial record of a great effort it is really appreciated:-
