Wanderers versus Glasgow Accies at Fort Matilda
Win 41-7 (Try Bonus) Sat 13 Feb 2010(13 February 2010)
Greenock Wanderers secured promotion into the National league 1st Division on Saturday with their finest performance at Fort Matilda in many a long year. A superb 80 minutes of rugby was enjoyed by a sizeable home and travelling support that left the ground in awe at the outstanding quality of play served up by a determined Greenock side.
With skipper David Watson having to withdraw with an ankle injury it was left to Vice-Captain Matt Gray to lead the troops on the day, which he did with pride, gusto, aggression and no little ability.
The team in its entirety were superb in every discipline of the game but their defensive skills and hard hitting tackling ability in particular hit the heights. Kieren Smith, Chris Clark, David Murray and Matt Duncan excelled in these chores and drove the Accies attackers’ back yards at a time.
The opening quarter of the match was tense and nervous and it was the visitors who seized the initiative with some early possession and territorial advantage. Wanderers served notice of their intentions though with fierce tackling around the fringes and the Glasgow side gained little ground with ball in hand.
On 24 minutes Ant Devlin knocked over Wanderers first points of the match from a penalty after a cynical trip by Accies centre Steve Smith that earned him 10 minutes in the sin bin. Five minutes later Referee Stewart McLean gave a second Glasgow player, lock forward Steve Begley, his marching orders for persistently infringing at the ruck and this underlined the officials even handed performance which was a feature of the match and added much to the flow of the game.
Wanderers took advantage of their temporary extra numbers and when a scrum was set near the visitors’ line a powerful drive from the front five led to the ball squirming uncontrollably from the Accies side. Scrum-half Andy McDougall was first to react and he fly hacked the ball over the line but was impeded by his opposite man as he reached for the touch down. Referee McLean immediately awarded the penalty try which Devlin converted to extend Wanderers lead to 10-0.
The locals had their tails up and as half time approached the forwards and backs were pounding at the visitors’ line. Several tilts had been repelled by dogged defending but when McDougall popped the ball to Chris Clark, the former captain blasted over the line to make the score 15-0.
The second period started with Wanderers still in the ascendancy and a superb angled run from full back Leigh Tyley almost made the line but he was bundled into touch a few yards short. Accies forwards won the lineout but when the ball was fed back to scrum half Richard McKnight he mishandled and that man Clark was there again to take advantage and touch down. Devlin obliged from the tee and at 22-0 the game was effectively over as a contest.
Accies rallied and forced some pressure but found the Wanderers rearguard impregnable and several big tackles underlined the difference between the sides. Referee McLean evened things up by yellow carding Alan McMichael and Callum Robb for tackling infringements during the second half but this made little difference to proceedings as Wanderers had the momentum and were well on top.
Star centre Brendan McGroarty received a big cheer when he entered the fray on the hour mark after a year out with injury. He wasted little time in showing the crowd what they had been missing with a strong run down the wing before floating a fine pass inside for Kieren Smith to collect and further add to Wanderers lead. Devlin chipped over the conversion and a few minutes later McGroarty repeated the dose for the visitors this time taking possession 60 yards out and outstripping the cover defence to touch down in the corner.
At 34-0 and with only ten minutes remaining the Fort Matilda Faithful were lapping it up. Man of the match Kieren Smith took possession in broken play 50 yards out and he followed McGroarty’s example and scampered through the Accies cover defence to notch try number six for Wanderers. Devlin once more converted to increase the lead to 41-0.
The visitors though stuck to their task and as the referee checked his watch centre Jamie Doig forced his way over the line for a consolation try converted by McKnight to complete the scoring 41-7.
President Dougie Sloan said, “We knew Accies were confident of getting a result but we just quietly went about our business and got our just desserts for a very good display. We are delighted to get promotion but the big prize is the Championship title so although there is plenty of satisfaction today at securing promotion, we still have a lot of rugby to play yet this season”
Wanderers head to Thurso to play Caithness next Saturday as they home in on their first League Championship Title since 2002.
Wanderers; L Tyley, C Anderson, K Smith, D Murray, G Fletcher, A Devlin, A McDougall, D Smith, A McMichael, M Lavelle, M Gray, M Duncan, A Abernethy, C Robb, C Clark. Replacements J McArthur, B McGroarty
Wanderers are sponsored by National Semiconductor [UK] Ltd.
| Saturday, 13 February 2010 | |||||||||||
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12:00 |  |
Highland | 17 | : | 0 |  |
Caithness | |||
| |
15:00 | |
Newton Stewart | - | : | - |  |
Hawick YM | |||
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Note: Postponed to: tbc
|
|||||||||||
| |
15:00 | |
Cambuslang | 15 | : | 10 |  |
Lasswade | |||
| |
15:00 | |
Kilmarnock | - | : | - |  |
Preston Lodge | |||
|
Note: Postponed from 19.12.09
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|||||||||||
| |
15:00 |  |
Greenock Wand | 41 | : | 7 |  |
Glasgow Accies | |||
League Table
| Position | Team | Played | W | D | L | F : A | Diff. | Bonus | Points | |||
| 1 | |
Greenock Wanderers RFC | 19 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 661:174 | 487 | 12 | 84 | ||
| 2 | |
Lasswade RFC | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 550:156 | 394 | 13 | 57 | ||
| 3 | |
Glasgow Academicals RFC | 17 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 423:256 | 167 | 11 | 55 | ||
| 4 | |
Kilmarnock RFC | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 331:246 | 85 | 8 | 44 | ||
| 5 | |
Highland RFC | 17 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 246:226 | 20 | 5 | 43 | ||
| 6 | |
Caithness RFC | 17 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 342:355 | -13 | 8 | 40 | ||
| 7 | |
Waysiders Drumpellier RFC | 15 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 243:289 | -46 | 7 | 35 | ||
| 8 | |
Hawick YM RFC | 15 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 275:277 | -2 | 7 | 31 | ||
| 9 | |
Newton Stewart RFC | 15 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 190:314 | -124 | 3 | 27 | ||
| 10 | |
Preston Lodge RFC | 16 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 179:444 | -265 | 4 | 22 | ||
| 11 | |
Cambuslang RFC | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 186:552 | -366 | 1 | 17 | ||
| 12 | |
Stewartry RFC | 15 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 151:488 | -337 | 3 | 15 | ||
Wanderers versus Glasgow Accies at Fort Matilda was posted by GWRFC.
To discuss any of its subject matter further please contact Greenock Wanderers RFC
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