Stew Mel vs Hillhead/Jordanhill, 1/12/01

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Squad

The Stew/Mel team to play Hillhead/Jordanhill on Saturday 1st December is:

A couple of changes from the squad who beat Dunfermline last time out. Fraser Pollock returns as captain after, once again, recovering from injury; he replaces Fraser Deeming, who is still a week away from fitness after his shoulder knock in the Shield tie.

Up front sees Andy Cadzow start at hooker, with Andy Kelly moving to Number 8 for Steven Laurie. Ben Searancke will be out for the next 4 weeks after an op this week to fix the thumb he broke in the Dunfermline game.

On the bench for the first time is James 'Cheesy' Hume, who is rewarded for his dedication to training. Murray Thomson and Sam Hendry will be used as impact subs at some stage, as will the ever reliable Sky.

Riggers

Match Report

(To follow)

Riggers' Review

Well, at the end of the day, it was a win, and the four points that were won are gratefully received after our three league losses on the trot. However, the manner of the victory, against a side who are bottom of the league, leaves much to be desired - and I don't mean that in a disrespectful way to H/J, who, at the very least, were probably worth a bonus point. When a 20-3 lead is established with 30 minutes of the game to go, you would expect the team sitting second top of the division to put them to the sword, especially having the wind at our backs, and then clinch the win bonus point. The fact that we couldn't increase our lead was down to, firstly, spirited and dogged determination from a H/J team not to concede points, and, secondly, the ineptitude of the Stew/Mel players.

It has been a long time since I've seen a team make so many mistakes and still win a game. We managed to not score from a 7 - 2 overlap at one stage in the proceedings, and, next week, against H/A in the Shield, we will be punished for such indiscretions. We were fortunate on Saturday to be playing a team so short of confidence that they didn't realise, until it was too late, that we were there for the taking. With the backs that they have and the competitive set of forwards they can play, I would suggest that there is enough in the H/J locker to escape from the relegation battle.

So where do the Stew/Mel team go from here? Well, we have two games before Christmas which will make or break our season. Next weekend, we travel to Auldhouse to play H/A in the Shield, and this is a great opportunity to try and gain revenge for the league defeat at Inverleith. The week after, we travel to Berwick, a place we have never won, to try and go into 2002 in second place in the league.

A massive challenge for the team, but I'm sure we can secure the two wins we crave; however, to do this, the attitude and skill level must improve, especially at training, starting on Tuesday night. To borrow a phrase from Steve Jack, a Kiwi prop who played for us a couple of seasons back, 'You can't expect to play like Tarzan if you train like Jane'. No more needs to be said than that regarding training this week!

The boys were all disappointed after the game on Saturday, but, at some stage, they are going to have to provide the answers to the problems. There seems an attitude at the present of expecting the older, more experienced players to do something to pull us through. An expectation for Benzo to win a turnover at a ruck or Spike to make a break exists. There needs to be more than that. Personally, I thought only 5 players contributed anything like they are capable of on Saturday. That is not enough. Some of the boys are tending to go into their shells when things aren't going for them. I would still rather they attempted something and it not come off, than the current 'pass the buck' attitude. I'm sure the coaches would want that as well.

The only good thing on Saturday were the other results in the league. There seems to be someone, somewhere looking down on us at present. At the start of the day, the expectation would have been for H/A to win narrowly at home to Haddington, which happened, but you couldn't foresee Southern, after their performance against Melrose the previous week, losing to Dundee, or Edinburgh Accies losing to Musselburgh. The fact they did means we have opened a 3 point gap to the third place team, but, in reality, that should have been 4 points. It would have put us a win ahead in the promotion race and, with our superior points difference to the other challengers, could have made all the difference in the run in.

A tough week in store for the boys, then, but what better than a game against the top side in the league to look forward to.

Maxxium Stew Mel Man of The Match: Lee Crafar

Riggers

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