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Stew Mel vs Selkirk,
13/10/07
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Squad
The Stewart's Melville FP RFC team to play Selkirk at Inverleith
on Saturday, kick off 3 pm, is:
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15
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Jimmy Moran
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14
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Stuart Ker
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13
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Richard Borthwick (captain)
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12
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Craig Joiner
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11
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James Park
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10
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Craig Marshall
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9
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Rob Primrose |
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1
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Kevin Stuart
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2
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Shaun McMurchy
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3
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Ally Duncan
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4
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Scott Brewster
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5
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Stephen Dalgleish
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6
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Pete McLean
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7
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Blair Tweedie
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8
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Liam Casey |
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16
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Adrian Duncan |
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17
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Andy Statham |
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18
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Ross Doneghan |
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19
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Cedric Unholz |
Ben's
Briefing
A score line of 41-36 is going to raise a
few eyebrows and questions amongst those who didn't witness
the spectacle that was round 7 of the league at Inverleith.
Those that did witness it probably pulled most of their
eyebrows out during the course of the match! The parting
line in the team talk before kick off was to "make
a statement" - this was certainly a statement,
although arguably in the rugby equivalent of Double Dutch.
0-13 to Selkirk after 10 minutes had seen some poor tackling
and indiscipline gift the Wilkinsonesque Liam Cassidy
two shots at goal which he made no mistake with, followed
by an interception try which was run in under the posts.
Stew Mel regathered themselves, however, with Moran kicking
2 penalties after missing an earlier opportunity. Following
the restart, we regained possession and started putting
some phases together, with some good ball carrying from
Craig Joiner and Pete McLean. The Selkirk defence was well
organised, though, and fanned out well in the wider channels,
forcing Stew Mel to bring the forwards in round the fringes
to try and pull the Selkirk defenders in before spreading
the ball wide.

We didn't quite get the accuracy right in this area, and
another wave of foolish infringements saw us back in our
own half and Cassidy once again punishing us with his metronomic
boot. It was these infringements that were most frustrating,
as we practically handed Selkirk the points. I fancy the
video nasty will pick out the culprits, so will not go into
too much naming and shaming in this report. Suffice to say
that the concentration levels were unacceptable, and this
lack of discipline will cost us dearly if it occurs again.
Again, though, to the side's credit, they fought back, and
better accuracy with the aforementioned tactics allowed
the ball to be spun through the backs; Richard Borthwick
then broke through the line and surged towards the try line
to put us back in the game, with Moran adding the extras
for a 13-16 turnaround.

It would be fair to say that nobody was happy with the
first half, from players to coaches to crowd, but no one
would have expected the explosion of scoring that came in
the second half. Stew Mel started the second half with much
better efficiency in the use of tactics, with Rob Primrose
and Craig Marshall making good use of both forwards and
backs to take play into the Selkirk 22. We sustained this
pressure well, creating a try for Blair Tweedie as he was
driven over under a bundle of bodies near the posts. The
referee was ideally positioned to award the try as the bundle
unravelled, and Moran again added the extras to take us
into the lead at 20-16.

At this point in the game, the stage looked set for the
home side to push on in a similar manner to last week, but,
again, discipline let us down, and we committed the cardinal
sin of giving points away almost straight after the restart,
as Cassidy stroked over another long ranger. Borthwick had
other ideas, though, galvanising his side with another scintillating
break on the Selkirk 10 metre line minutes later, leaving
the Selkirk cover chasing shadows in his wake as he carved
through the midfield for his second touch down. His hat
trick came a minute later with a try that was virtually
a carbon copy. Again, with space opening up in the midfield,
he scythed through the Selkirk defence, who simply had no
answer to the raw pace and power.

With the bonus point in the bag, one sensed this was game
over, but, to their credit, Selkirk came back, showing why
they have enjoyed a good start to the season. They ended
up pushing Stew Mel back to their own goal line, aided by
more poor concentration from the home team, who lost possession
at a series of set pieces and continued to have lapses of
discipline on the offside line, chasing the game when they
would have been better off letting Selkirk force the issue.
After a couple of drives from the lineout, Selkirk were
awarded a scrum on our 5 metre line, and their tactical
substitution in the front row yielded instant dividends
in the form of a push over try which Cassidy converted.
He then followed this with another long range penalty that
brought Selkirk right back into the game. Added to this,
Pete McLean was sent to the sin bin for repeated infringing
- which was probably fair, on the balance of play.

The game was on, once again, and a fairly frantic last
10 minutes ensued as Selkirk sensed an opportunity to win.
Fortunately, Stew Mel did not sit back and try and hold
out, but took play into the Selkirk half from the restart.
Moran spotted the home defence racing up from inside their
22 and put in a deft kick, over the top, into the dead ball
area, which Craig Marshall gratefully dived upon to restore
the breathing space. Selkirk still refused to lie down,
though, and came back again at the death to score another
try and give the Stew Mel faithful further palpitations,
before Moran hoofed the ball into touch for the final act
of the game.
In summing up, we made this difficult for ourselves (an
understatement - probably of the season) and need to play
with greater control and discipline to put sides like this
away. On the plus side, the bonus point was secured thanks
to some stellar play from the captain, who is starting to
look like he owns the number 13 jersey, and, again, the
spirit and character of the team shone through against a
plucky Selkirk outfit who did the double on us last year.
Ben
Stew
Mel Stats
| Match Sponsors |
ABERCROMBIE FINANCIAL
11 Alva Street
Edinburgh
EH2 4PH
Tel: 0131 226 3400
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| Ball Sponsors |
J&E Shepherd
Chartered Surveyors
Galashiels
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| Result |
Won 41-36 |
| Sequence |
0-3,
0-6,
0-11, 0-13,
3-13, 6-13,
6-16, 11-16,
13-16 (half time),
18-16, 20-16,
20-19, 25-19,
27-19, 32-19,
34-19, 34-24,
34-26, 34-29,
39-29, 41-29,
41-34, 41-36 |
| Tries |
Richard Borthwick 3 (32, 59 & 60
mins), Blair Tweedie (45 mins), Craig Marshall
(73 mins) |
| Conversions |
Jimmy Moran 5 |
| Penalties |
Jimmy Moran 2 (21 & 24 mins) |
| Cards |
Pete 'Bad Boy' McLean yellowed (again) on 69 minutes
for deliberate offside
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| Referee |
Robert McHenry of Dumfries RFC |
| Single Sentence Summary |
Another superb result from the boys, despite
our traditional poor start and the Borderers' refusal
to capitulate under our second half Blitzkrieg - some
of our passages of play late on were like a throwback
to that glorious unbeaten run in Premier One |
| Leading Lion |
Was tempted to give Borth the award for the second
week running to mark his first senior hat trick, but,
with Jed scoring five tries for the 3s in Grangemouth
yesterday ... only joking, Borth
is the man once again!
All three tries were superbly taken, the gaps created
by our back row and Jackie Joiner at inside centre
allowing Borth to switch on the afterburners and just
motor past any Selkirk defenders who got near him.
He skooshed
the MoTM Boat Race, too!
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| Bevvy Bulletin |
Bottled Corona, and lots of it - what with one rugby
match to celebrate, and (later on) one to obliterate
from the memory ...
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| Pie Points |
Don't usually bother mentioning the scran
at Invers - mainly because there never is any
- but respect is due to Den Den for plating up some
sarnies
yesterday. More, please! |
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