Stew Mel vs Stirling County, 14/1/06

Inverleith Angle

Let me first take the opportunity to wish you all a happy New Year and all the best for 2006.

Welcome to Inverleith for today's BT Premier 1 encounter with Stirling County. To John Hope, Ray Mountford, and the rest of the Stirling County committee and supporters, I hope you enjoy your visit to Inverleith, but not as much as last time!

Today's game will be preceded by a minute's silence in memory of Alan 'Nobby' Norbury, our Honorary Club Secretary, who sadly passed away last Saturday after a long illness. Nobby has done a tremendous amount of work for the club over the years, and his presence will be sadly missed around Inverleith. Nobby's funeral takes place on Monday at 3 pm at Warriston Crematorium.

What a difference eleven months make. Last time Stirling County visited Inverleith, they were unbeaten at the top of Premier 2, with Stewart's Melville their closest challengers. A win that day saw them crowned champions, and, of course, we went on to clinch promotion in our next game. Things, it would be fair to say for both clubs, haven't gone as expected on their return to Premier 1, with both clubs occupying the bottom two places. A win for either team today would help in their battle for survival, but let's hope the home team can make it three wins on the trot.

After a tremendous display against Biggar before Christmas, the highlight of which was two fantastic tries by Dave McCall, we had time to regroup over the festive period and get ready for the challenges that lay ahead. The Boroughmuir game was a massive game to start 2006 with, and, when we found ourselves 17-0 up after 35 minutes and playing against 14 men, thoughts turned to bonus points. A poor second half, however, saw us clinging on at the end of the game, but the victory was secured. Only time will tell whether only narrowing the gap between us and Boroughmuir to ten points is enough, when it could easily have been narrowed to eight points. It is like having seven Cup finals to play during the rest of the season. We must win each game. A bonus point here and there would not go amiss, either!

The rest of the club have been in action only once since the last 'Angle', with the 2nd XV losing to Watsonians 18-17 in a friendly last Saturday. The match was notable for the inclusion in the Stewart's Melville team of Struan Samson after a season hampered by injury. Struan will hopefully soon be challenging for his number 12 jersey in the 1st XV, a jersey he has worn more than anyone else this millennium.

The 4th XV defeated Ross High at Inverleith last Saturday, and the highlight reported to me was Ian Duguid informing his teammates before kick off that, as soon as he scored or set up a try, he was departing to Tynecastle to watch Hearts play Kilmarnock in the Cup. With the score 0-0 at half-time, Ian was delayed slightly longer than he had anticipated, but only just. I believe two soaring breaks early in the second half led to tries, and off he went.

Congratulations must go to Ross Rennie, who has been included in the Scotland 7s Squad for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March. Ross is available for a couple more games before 7s becomes the focus of the rest of his season, and we wish him all the best and hope he comes back with a medal. Colin Goudie, David McCall, Andrew Easson and Richard Vernon all played in the U19 international against Italy before Christmas, which was unfortunately lost 15-5. Ross Samson attended the U18 camp at Murrayfield earlier this month, and, one would imagine, must be close to U18 national honours this season. He was joined at the camp by three of his school 1st XV teammates from last season, namely Lewis Calder, Adrian Duncan and Murray Allan. Good luck to them all in their quest for national honours.

The School 1st XV has, of course, produced many fine players over the years, and continues to do so. Wednesday night sees the 1st XV in the Semi Final of the Bell Lawrie White Cup against Merchiston Castle School. The game kicks off at 6.30 pm at Myreside, so please try and make it along if you can. The team contains the offspring of a number of Stew/Mel legends in the form of Jim Calder's son Lewis, John MacKenzie's son Sean and Ian Duguid's son Jamie. Good luck to them on Wednesday.

Riggers

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