Glasgow Hutcheson's Aloysians vs Stew Mel, 21/1/03

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Squad

The Stewart's Melville team for Tuesday's rescheduled BT Cup 4th Round tie with GHA, 7.30 pm kick off at Braidholm, is:

The team for Tuesday night shows two changes from the side which beat Corstorphine on Saturday. Stewart Bennet is out of the side with the thumb injury which he picked up on Saturday, allowing Nick Penny to return to the back row. The other change sees Fraser Pollock start at Inside Centre instead of Struan Samson, who is unavailable due to University exams.

Onto the bench to replace Nick and Fraser come John Healy and Richard Borthwick.

Any supporters travelling through to the game should note that there will not be a team bus going through to Glasgow. Those of you driving through can find a map of the area here.

Riggers' Review

Well, all the talk in the papers this week has been about the romance of the Scottish Cup. We're talking the round ball game here, of course, but, last night night at dimly lit Braidholm, the Stewart's Melville team nearly added to the oval ball's romance by taking the scalp of a team on the verge of promotion to Premier 1. To say the boys were gutted to lose 30-29 would not be doing them justice. To say they were the better team on the night would be doing them an injustice. The 19 guys who pulled the jersey on last night were outstanding. They did themselves proud, and also raised the hopes of the club that the good times are not too far from rolling again.

The kick off was delayed by 10 minutes to allow for the late arrival of some of our team due to traffic problems. Indeed, Saturday's hero, Mike Elliott, was so late in getting to Braidholm that we elected to start with Borth at full back and Spike on the wing. This allowed Mike the luxury of warming up properly throughout the first half.

From the kick off, the boys took the game to GHA and looked the sharper team for the first 10 minutes. Much against the run of play, however, GHA took the lead with a converted try near the posts after a breakaway. The Stew/Mel boys regrouped, and, after good sniping by Stu Thom up the blind side, we were rewarded with a lineout 5 metres out from the GHA line. A good catch by Paul led to Koli driving over in the corner, and Scott converted.

More fine attacking play from the boys failed to bring its reward, but we were soon awarded a penalty on the 10 metre line and Scott sailed the ball between the sticks with consummate ease. At this stage we were clearly on top. Clarky and Paul were picking off the GHA lineout with ease, the scrums were well balanced and the rucks and mauls were proving a source of good turnover ball. The boys were going forward in defence and the hits going in were good.

The rest of the first half was tight until the GHA right wing made a break up the far touchline. He kicked ahead and was sort of shepherded, WWF style, to the deck by the covering Fraser Pollock. A penalty was awarded, GHA elected to kick to the corner and then managed to peel round the back for a try about 15 metres in. This was converted and led to us going to the huddle at half-time 14-10 down, but still in the game.

At half-time we discovered that Scott, Paul, Nick and Malky were all in a bit of discomfort with knocks picked up in the first half, and, with some important games coming up, decided to bring on Mike, John, Sky and Eck to freshen things up and protect the injured. The second half didn't get off to the best of starts, with 2 penalties conceded to take the GHA lead to 20-10, however, even with the changes made, we were still commanding the lineout and turning over the loose ball. We managed to recycle possession a few times and created an opening for Fraser in the corner. The conversion from the touchline was missed, but, at 20-15, we were right back in it.

No sooner had we got the deficit down to five points, then we found ourselves in the lead. Another lineout 5 yards out saw Clarky drive over. Fraser made no mistake with the conversion, and we were 2 points up.

The next 10 minutes or so were on a knife edge, and GHA had some pressure in our 22. Eventually they were awarded a penalty, and we were a point down. Once again the boys regrouped and, with a turnover ball won on our 10 metre line, we had numbers out wide if we could move it. Mike missed out a couple of players and gave to Jaffa, who attacked the remaining two defenders in their line and floated the ball on to Spike. Spike made some yards before giving the ball onto Borth, 30 metres out and with a couple of defenders to beat. In a run reminiscent of his try against Uruguay at the Melrose Sevens, Borth stepped on the gas and beat the defenders easily to score under the posts. Fraser stepped up to convert and we were ahead 29-23.

Anyone who thought the game was over couldn't be more wrong, and, despite having chances to increase our lead, we surrendered it with a try in the corner in the first couple of minutes of time added on. The pressure was on the GHA no. 10 to convert, and he duly stepped up to the plate to knock the kick over with centimeters to spare.

The ref informed us that there was still a minute to play, and, from a deep kick off, GHA came at us once again. We managed to dislodge the ball in the tackle and were awarded a scrum just outside the GHA 22. Both Mike and Fraser sat back in drop goal positions, but the scrum ball was scrappy. Fraser managed to retrieve the situation and made ground out wide on the left. After a couple of mini rucks, the referee blew his whistle and the groans that went up from the home crowd informed us that the ref had awarded us a penalty. The kick was just outside the 22, in between the 5m and 15m lines. Fraser stepped up and, unfortunately for him, just pushed his kick to the right of the posts. Game over. Exhaustion. Jubilation. Despondency. And that was just the crowd.

As said earlier, the boys were gutted, but immediately the focus turned to Saturday and the game with Dunfermline. As we gathered under the posts to discuss the dramatic cup tie we had just witnessed, the mood was upbeat. We had effectively taken on a team on the verge of promotion to Premier 1 and come close to beating them. The challenge was now on to repeat this sort of performance on Saturday. If we do that, then we will be another step closer to Premier 2. With the Stew/Mel boys in this sort of form, Saturday can't come quickly enough.

Riggers

Stew Mel Stats

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