Hamilton vs Stew Mel, 6/10/07

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Squad

The Stewart's Melville FP RFC team to play Hamilton RFC at Laigh Bent on Saturday, kick off 3 pm, is:

A few changes after the win against Biggar last week.

Borth and Stu Ker return to the squad after recovering from their injuries, with Borth replacing the unavailable Jackie Joiner at 13. Stu replaces James Park on the bench, with Park Eh moving to the wing.

In the pack, Pete McLean makes one of his occasional starts at flanker. He picked up a Leading Lion award in that position the last time we travelled through to Laigh Bent - can he repeat that feat this time around?

Anyone wishing a lift through to Hamilton should assemble at Inverleith by 11.45 am on Saturday, for a noon departure. If you're driving to Laigh Bent, directions are here.

To end on a much more sombre note, everyone associated with Stewart's Melville FP RFC was saddened to learn that Graham Lind's mum Lindsey had passed away after a long illness last Friday. The funeral service took place at Cramond Kirk today. Our thoughts are with Graham, dad Robin, sisters Alison and Kirsty and the Lind family at this time.

Ben's Briefing

Apologies to those among the Stew Mel faithful who have been on tenterhooks waiting for this Briefing. As the webmaster has already alluded to, my thoughts have been diverted elsewhere in the early part of the week - but this performance certainly merits reporting, as the 1st XV made it two from two, with a bonus point to boot (pun fully intended).

The Pools forecast predicted that a low scoring, forward orientated slugfest in the trenches of Laigh Bent would be required if we were to prevail in this fixture, if last year's close games were anything to go by. But what was served up paid testament to the improvements the side have made over the last few weeks.

Stew Mel started strongly, with some good early pressure, and Moran put us on the board with a well taken penalty. Hamilton have a well drilled pack, though, and they immediately took play back into the Stew Mel half with a series of forward drives from the base of rucks. The Stew Mel defence was stout around the fringes, though, and this pressure did not lead to any points. It was pleasing, too, to note that the scrum was also holding up well against the larger home pack, and Millan must take some credit for this with the hard work he has been putting in on the scrum machine.

Having weathered a period of Hamilton pressure, Stew Mel took possession into the Hamilton half, only to see a midfield pass intercepted by the Hamilton 7, who was only halted just short of the Stew Mel line. Again the defence held strong, and the Hamilton scrum was rebuffed after a series of opportunities on the Stew Mel 5 metre line. The resulting lineout from the Stew Mel clearance again saw the Hamilton number 7 break through the Stew Mel line, however, and the ball was well recycled to allow the home centre to score in the corner. This seemed to galvanise Stew Mel, and, for the remainder of the half, we dominated possession and were unlucky not to score on two occasions, when Bob 'Alessandro' Primrose was held up on the line and Moran pushed into touch in the corner. In the end, all we had to show for this pressure was another Moran penalty on the stroke of half time.

One sensed at half time that the home side were tiring, and the second half result bore this out, as first Liam Casey and then Andy Davidson scored well worked tries. What was most pleasing about the final quarter was that the players finally started playing what was in front of them, and Borth exemplified this as he broke from our own 22, rounding several Hamilton Popos, with the end result being a try for Primrose. The bonus point was scored deservedly by Blair Tweedie right at the death.

We are certainly a different team to the one languishing at the foot of the table a month ago, and must build upon this experience, which was led by the tackling of the back row that established a platform Hamilton simply could not compete with. The key, one feels, over the next few weeks will be to start each game with the intention of negating the strengths of the opposition first, by applying ourselves in defence, before moving through the gears in attack. One game at a time, as the old saying goes.

Ben

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