Tennent’s National League Division 2 Glasgow Accies RFC v Newton Stewart RFC
Played on 25th January 2020 at Bladnock Park
Accies boarded the bus for the tough journey through the twisting roads to Bladenock Park, for the second time this season, to take on Newton Stewart. It is always a difficult place to go and get anything from the game. Their first journey proved to be a waste of fuel and time as the pitch was never going to be playable with a deep frost all over Scotland, hence the reason for the second journey.
Accies were still missing some key forwards but took to the field, as always, with hopes of a surprise being sprung. Well 1 minute from kick off and Newton Stewart were awarded a penalty in front of the posts and Accies were behind. 0 - 3
From the restart Accies raced into their opponents half but from the ensuing ruck the Newton Stewart scrum half, knowing the wind was at his back, sent a high, speculative kick back into Accies half. The ball bounced between the winger and fullback and straight into the on rushing Newton Stewart winger and over the line before you could zip up your jacket. The easy conversion was successful. 0 – 10
What a desperately difficult start and a clear indication that the players had not got the bus trip out of their systems. However from the second restart Accies took the play well into their opponents half and were starting to play some good rugby. They pinned them back and it was looking as if they might get something from this encounter. However another good clearance, using the wind to their advantage, saw the home side back into Accies 22. A missed tackle and they had found a route to the line and Accies were 2 tries down. 0 - 15.
Accies heads could well have gone down with what had happened but this is a side with spirit and they were still very much in the game and at times look like they could put some points on the board but other than a missed penalty no chance seemed to materialise.
However there was one incident in the first half that could have swung the pendulum of the game. Ross Cowan was spear tackled by their scrum half and driven down onto his neck. Gregor Macewan rushed in the push the scrum half away as the referee blew his whistle. Immediately he yellow carded Greg, then turning to the culprit, indicated that he thought Ross had landed on his back so all that he required was a yellow card, much to the surprise of the Accies players and supporters. So no advantage was gained by Accies as the sides remained even and there was no more scoring in the first half.
Half – time 0 – 15
Accies kicked of the second half and once again Newton Stewart struck within a minute. Again it resulted from a missed tackle and some very good support running and Accies were another 5 points behind. 0 – 20
Accies now had their best spell of the game and threw everything at their opponents. After a good period of pressure on the try line the ball was whipped wide and over romped Colin Taylor for his first try of the season. 5 – 20
For the next 25 minutes there was nothing between the sides and Accies were running at the opposition with real attitude. Once again Calum Duke was putting in a big shift with some great carries and tackles. However another simple inside pass from their scrum half, and yet another missed tackle and they romped home from halfway with a couple of good support runners and scored under the posts. 5 – 27.
Accies were now really chasing the game and were not able to make full use of the wind. However they were still trying to play rugby and when Chris Goodfellow tried a long pass out to the unmarked winger, the opposition centre pounced and romp home from 20 yards. Another try under the posts and Accies were out of the game. 5 – 34
To be fair Newton Stewart were the better side but Accies never stopped trying to play rugby and if fact came very close to scoring on a number of occasions, but it was not to be.
Full – time 5 – 34
This was always going to be a tough game for Accies, but the loss of Scott Simmons within the first 10 minutes, with a hip injury and Tadhg Power carrying a knee injury made the task even harder. Accies have given away far too many soft tries this season and I am sure the coaches will be using the three week break to fine tune our defensive frailties that we have seen in recent games. It is this scribes opinion that a truer reflection of the game would have been 5 – 20.
Accies next fixture is probably the biggest of their season against relegation threatened Gordonians, who are coming to Anniesland for what could be a relegation decider. With only five games remaining a win for Accies would see them go 10 points clear of the 11 placed Gordonians. So a must win game and I know the difference a big support makes to the players confidence and it would give them just that little edge to get the result we all hope for.
The first encounter of the season was a disaster with over 16 players unavailable and by full time we only had 13 fit players with two in hospital. The players will be desperate to put that right. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at New Anniesland and if you can possibly make it there is a pre-match lunch (contact Mo Smith Mo51@hotmail.co.uk) where we will all have a chance to discuss the game and Scotland’s first two games of the 6 Nations. I look forward to the day and chatting to as many of you as possible.
