Cartha Queens Park vs Stew Mel, 24/3/07

• Click here to jump to Malky's Musings
• Click here to jump to Stew Mel Stats

Squad

The Stewart's Melville FP RFC team to play Cartha Queens Park at Dumbreck on Saturday, kick off 3 pm, is:

As there is apparently some other sporting event taking place on the south side of Glasgow on Saturday, the bus for Dumbreck will leave Inverleith at 12.15 pm sharp. Players are asked to assemble at Inverleith by 11.45 am at the latest.

With the 2nd XV also playing Hawks at New Anniesland (Glasgow Accies' ground) on Saturday, any supporters wishing a lift through should be aware that spaces on the bus are likely to be limited.

If you're driving, directions to Dumbreck are here.

Malky's Musings

We travelled through to Glasgow on Saturday with the intention of playing an expansive, high tempo game, with the knowledge that our opponents would have difficulty dealing with this sort of rugby. During the opening stages of the match we executed this plan well, and our three quarters looked dangerous each time they were presented with ball by the pack. We took an early lead when the impressive Colin Goudie broke through and sprinted clear to touch down for a try after only 3 minutes. This score was left unconverted, but we continued to pile on significant pressure and only a combination of some spirited defence and some inconsistent whistling prevented us from extending our advantage during the first quarter of an hour.

As we had anticipated, Cartha looked to bring their large pack into the game at every opportunity, and, although our forwards were competing extremely well, we found ourselves under pressure from a series of driven line outs which were the result of penalty awards. With around 20 minutes on the clock, this pattern led to a hard won try for the home team on the far side of the pitch. Our opponents missed the conversion and the scores were tied at 5 each.

The remainder of the first half was a strange game to watch from the sidelines. We continued to look good with ball in hand, and the forwards were competing well both at the breakdown and in the set piece. We found ourselves on the receiving end of a very one sided penalty count, however, and Cartha were twice more able to grind their way over for scores which resulted from driven line outs. Our only reply was a penalty goal on 35 minutes, and we entered the break trailing 17-8.

Unfortunately the second period closely mirrored the events of the first. We again scored a well crafted try when Colin Goudie was set loose at pace to sprint clear on 50 minutes. This took the score to 17-15, and we started to feel confident when Stuart Ker glided through under the posts for a converted score only 7 minutes later (17-22). The penalty count continued to work in the opposition's favour, however, and prevented us from maintaining our momentum.

With around 10 minutes left on the clock, Cartha were awarded a scrum close to our line around 10 yards in from touch. Their experienced pack succeeded in getting a good shove on, and, although the scrum was starting to wheel, our back row broke too early and were penalised for disrupting the ball at the back of the scrum. In spite of the fact that this was the first scrum, the referee chose to award the home team a penalty try (Cartha 24, Stew Mel 22). With time running out, we continued to attack our opponents at every opportunity, but the Glasgow side defended well and the last score of the game went to the home team following a handling error deep in out 22 (final score: Cartha 29, Stew Mel 22).

The players were deeply disappointed following the match, but their application and desire could not have been questioned on the day. We have, however, not performed as we would have hoped during this league campaign, and there is a strong commitment within the club to make sure that we produce better results next season. We now move on to concentrate on the Cup, and our aim is to perform to the best of our abilities against Premier 1 opposition on the 7th of April at Inverleith.

Although this was not the last competitive fixture of the season, it was the last game where we will see Areta and Jeb featuring. I would like to extend our thanks to both of these players for their hard work and commitment to the club. Areta has brought a great deal to our game, and I am sure that he will continue to punch above his weight in the future. Jeb is a player with a great future ahead of him, and we wish him good luck in his forthcoming national trials in Canada - if only he would stop trying to pick on the big ones!

Malky

Stew Mel Stats

Return to 1st XV Fixtures page