|
Haddington vs Stew Mel,
25/9/04
-
Click here
to jump to Riggers' Review
- Click here
to jump to Stew Mel Stats
Squad
The Stewart's Melville FP RFC team to play Haddington RFC
at Neilson Park on Saturday, kick off 3 pm, is:
|
15
|
Richard Borthwick
|
|
14
|
Gav Sharp
|
|
13
|
Chris Bissett
|
|
12
|
Struan Samson
|
|
11
|
Jed Gordon
|
|
10
|
Graham Shiel
|
|
9
|
Euan Clark
|
|
1
|
Alex Edmonstone
|
|
2
|
Shaun McMurchy
|
|
3
|
Stephan de Beer
|
|
4
|
Stuart Clark
|
|
5
|
Stephen Dalgleish
|
|
6
|
Nick Penny
|
|
7
|
Ross Rennie
|
|
8
|
Graham Lind (captain) |
| |
|
|
16
|
Simon Capaldi |
|
17
|
Gareth Flockhart |
|
18
|
Stephan Burger |
There's, once again, the customary single change to the
starting lineup this week, with Paul Wharakura unavailable
as he will be undertaking Best Man duties at Lee Crafar's
brother's wedding in Slovenia. Alex Edmonstone makes his
first start of the season as a result, and is a more than
able deputy.
Graham Lind takes over the Captain's armband in Paul's
absence.
Gareth Flockhart and Stephan Burger return to join Si
Capaldi on the bench.
This is a big test for the team, and your support at Neilson
Park would be most welcome. There's no team bus, but you
are more than welcome to join the Stew Mel convoy heading
east on Saturday afternoon.
And, if you are coming along, look out for Steph
De Beer's dad, who's up to see his wee boy in action again
this weekend - I'm sure he would welcome a beer or two (or
maybe just some warming soup) after the game ....
Riggers'
Review
24 hours later and I'm still not sure what
to make of yesterday's result and performance. With 25 minutes
to go and being 20-3 down, we would have been delighted
to have come back and earned a draw, but I think the fact
that the game finished with us on the Haddington line, very
much in the ascendancy and searching for the fourth try
and the win, left us kind of hollow.
Have no doubt though, our first half performance was one
of the poorest displays we have turned in for a while, with
the pack completely bossed by a hungrier and more effective
Haddington eight who played the conditions to perfection.
Two of their three tries were disappointing as they stemmed
from us giving away penalties or easy possession and allowing
Haddington to put us under pressure in our own 22. Haddington's
pack are
very strong in the lineout and this enabled them to score
two well
worked tries. A bad defensive mistake allowed the third
and, make no bones about it, we were on the rack and staring
down the barrel.
A couple of injuries occurred for both teams, however,
and that kind of turned the impetus, as we finished the
first half on top and really should have scored in the corner
after Berg put Shaun away. A great cover tackle dislodged
the ball, however, and the chance went a begging. That did
give us hope, though, and, with the strong wind to help
us in the second half, the team talk at half time was very
positive.
The one thing we never noticed at half time, though, was
the wind machine being turned off!
A steady start to the second period saw a few chances and
Borth got us on the board with a penalty. Then, from one
of the few times we upped the pace from a lineout, the ball
came back blind to Lindy about 40 yards out, and he was
off. After crashing through a couple of tackles and going
in at the corner, it was game on.
Berg then opened his try scoring account for the first
team, coming off a great angle to score near the post and,
when Gav acted like a thief in the night to latch onto a
loose Haddington pass, we were back level and very much
in control. Our superior fitness was showing through and
we were cutting Haddington open out wide, but they scrambled
well in defence to hold us out.
It was then that the discipline started to go a bit, although
it was
strange to watch a team on the attack give away seven penalties
on the trot, especially when some of the defence was of
a desperate nature. But the breakthrough never came, and,
when the final whistle sounded, we had once again been denied
by our bogey team. That's now only one win in seven against
them in the league, although, bizarrely, we lead the scoring
127 to 122 in those encounters, tough games indeed for both
sides and never easy on spectators with heart or blood pressure
problems!
The boys were very down afterwards and it probably won't
do them any harm to hurt a bit; they know that they let
this one slip. The mood was lifted when news came through
of the 2nd XV's fine win at Stirling - great stuff from
them.
Dundee at home next weekend and another tough game which
is turning into a must win for both teams if we don't want
Stirling opening up a gap at the top.
Riggers
Stew
Mel Stats
| Result |
Drew 20-20 |
| Sequence |
5-0,
10-0,
12-0,
17-0
(half time), 20-0,
20-3,
20-8,
20-13,
20-15,
20-20
|
| Tries |
Graham Lind (62 mins), Gareth
Flockhart (65 mins), Gavin Sharp (68 mins) |
| Conversions |
Richard Borthwick 1 (second try) |
| Penalties |
Richard Borthwick 1 (60 mins) |
| Cards |
None, though Gareth Flockhart must have
come close for persistent verbals to the ref in the
second half |
| Referee |
Davy Dodds of Gala - anyone who cautions
Cliff Livingstone about his bad chat in the first five
minutes of a match is OK with me |
| Single Sentence Summary |
Dire in the first half, with the team
lacking spark and the abrasive home side making the
most of the strong wind at their backs - but, after
a stunning fightback by The Posh in the second period,
we really should have won this match |
| Leading Lion |
Gareth Flockhart's
arrival on the pitch seemed to coincide with the
start of our fightback - while lacking
in fitness, he's one tough hombre, with great decision
making skills. Took his try well, too.
|
| Bevvy Bulletin |
Just the one pre-match pint (and near-fight)
in the Railway Hotel in Haddington, then scurried back
to civilisat ..... er, Inverleith after the match for
some restorative pints of Carlsberg |
Return
to 1st XV Fixtures page
|
