Aberdeen GSFP vs Stew Mel, 22/10/05

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Squad

The Stewart's Melville FP RFC team to play Aberdeen GSFP at Rubislaw on Saturday, kick off 3 pm, is:

The pack is unchanged from last week's fine win over Melrose, but Peter Jorgensen's call up to the Edinburgh squad to face Wasps on Sunday forces a reshuffle in the backline. Jorgo's outside centre berth will be taken by Andrew Easson, with Nicky Wood replacing Andrew at 12. Fit again Richard Borthwick replaces Sam Hendry at full back.

The team are travelling up to Aberdeen on Friday evening, so supporters are asked to make their own way to Rubislaw for the match. The 11.10 train from Waverley will get you to Aberdeen for 13.35, leaving you time for a pint in the Prince Of Wales before jumping in a taxi to Rubislaw.

We would love to see you in Aberdeen as we seek our first away win of the season, and would be able to reward your loyalty with a lift home on the team bus.

Malky's Musings

Saturday saw a much improved away performance from a Stew Mel team which continues to make progress at this high level. We still, however, left Rubislaw with no tangible reward for our efforts, and it is clear that we still need to learn how to close out tight games when we have our opponents on the back foot.

The match started with a sustained period of Aberdeen pressure where the home team's ball retention was excellent, its forwards drove hard, and we failed to take our limited opportunities to clear our lines. In spite of some excellent talking, this pressure finally resulted in a score for our opponents on around ten minutes, with the pack rumbling over from close range. Stew Mel responded well, with the forwards digging in deep to secure some good quality ball which allowed us to take the game to Aberdeen. We were successful in penetrating the home defence on a number of occasions around the breakdown area, and some excellent driving and interlinking play from Paul Wharakura, Ross Rennie and Graham Lind, amongst others, should have resulted in a try.

Borth then traded penalties with the Aberdeen stand off, Keith Oddie, to take the score to Aberdeen 8 Stew Mel 3. The pack continued to play well, with our lineout and scrum functioning well and our rucking clinical. This gave the backs confidence that we could play through a number of phases, and, with 35 minutes on the clock, an excellent handling manoeuvre was finished off by Dave McCall on the right wing (Aberdeen 8 Stew Mel 8). Just before the break, however, a well worked Aberdeen attack saw their winger respond with a try, and the home team took a five point lead into half time.

We started the second half with real spirit, and the following 20 minutes saw the home side severely tested by our expansive attacking style. An excellent assault, which had Aberdeen stretched on both flanks, led to a Ross Rennie try, and, although our lead was only two points (Aberdeen 13 Stew Mel 15), we were firmly in the ascendancy. At this point we failed to press home our advantage, and some sloppy kicking from hand was influential in letting our opponents off the hook. Aberdeen duly punished us, and, through a combination of some strong running in the midfield and further good play from their pack, they broke down our defence to regain the lead.

The last fifteen minutes of the game saw us leak three tries in total, and we were only able to respond with five points from Paul Wharakura; this score was no more than our captain deserved, following another superb performance.

We came close to capturing two bonus points in the closing phases of the game, following two excellent breaks from Andrew Easson and a good run from Dave McCall. When the referee blew the full time whistle, however, all the team had to show for its efforts was a 12 point defeat and the prospect of a long journey back to Edinburgh.

We are a good team which continues to improve, yet we have reached a point in the season where we must now turn performances into league points. We have played well in each of our home games this season, and I, for one, am confident that second placed Watsonians will have an uncomfortable afternoon at Inverleith next Saturday.

Malky

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