Grangemouth 2nd XV vs Stew Mel 3rd XV, 13/10/07

• Click here to jump to Match Report
• Click here to jump to Stew Mel Stats

Squad

The Stewart's Melville team for Saturday's league game against Grangemouth 2nd XV at Glensburgh, kick off 3 pm, is:

The team is, as always, subject to change, depending on the needs of the 2nds. We have yet to see whether we’ll gain or lose any players ahead of their trip to Boroughmuir tomorrow. We do, however, have a potentially large squad of confirmed players for our inaugural trip to Glensburgh in Grangemouth. Thank you all for your response, especially after the problems last week.

For the record, the league decided that the 81-0 scoreline should stand. Painful as that is, it means we don’t get deducted a league point for not fulfilling the fixture. Well done to Shaft and Yoss for calling that correctly, and thank you to those players that took part.

This week we welcome Iain Stevenson to the centre berth (he’s a friend of Coylie's) whilst also welcoming back Pierrick (who played against 'Sonians) and our two new-ish front rows, Paul Wilson and Stewart Hardie.

The arrangements for tomorrow are as follows. Those of you in need of a lift (or anyone driving through who can offer a lift) should be at Inverleith no later than 1.30 pm, please. For those of you wanting to meet at Grangemouth, the meeting time there is 2.15 pm.

We courteously invite supporters, WAGs, children, friends and crocked players along to see some fine rugby, too.

Match Report

After the debacle at Raeburn Place last week (when only 12 players showed up), it was encouraging to have a squad of 19 available for our first ever trip to Grangemouth. Two heavy defeats on the bounce for the 'Mighty Threes' had, however, shaken the collective nerves. A lingering feeling of pessimism hung heavily on the shoulders of the assembled troops at Inverleith. Even the comedy double act of Matthew Dickens and Ric Clark failed to dispel the tension entirely. Although trying to work out how Matthew had managed to fall straight onto his face from a bar stool (without intervention from his hands, arms or legs) and the state of Ric's car tyres did, for a short while, provide welcome distraction.

Soon our fleet of cars was off in a Cannonball Run style dash to Grangemouth in time for kickoff. Rawskins and I brought up the rear, slowed down by an altercation with a taxi driver, but, alas, it was Jedi who eventually took the wooden spoon. This was mainly due to him feeling the need to go around most of Grangemouth's many, many roundabouts at least twice. Arriving at Glensburgh and hearing the roaring of the refinery and the rumble of the motorway, it was hard not to feel trapped inside the lyrics of a Bruce Springsteen song - albeit one written in Clackmannanshire.

Glensburgh is a good place for rugby, and, despite the smallest, hottest changing rooms in the whole of Scotland (it's official - I've checked with Health & Safety types and the Guinness Book of Record Changing Room Temperatures), we were in good spirits ahead of this now very important game. A morale booster was needed. Whether we won or lost, a performance based on heart and a will to play for the coveted jersey was imperative.

There was nothing to be coveted about the Grangemouth change strip, though, a horrible mustard yellow shirt with a Rugby League style diamond on the front. Fearing a Trinny and Susannah style backlash, our hosts quickly kicked off.

Now, it's safe to assume that, by looking at the score and seeing how many tries Jedi scored, one could draw the conclusion that we had something of a field day in Grangemouth. It's not entirely true. Jed scored some very good tries, and his pace was devastating against Grangemouth's full back and wingers - but, believe it or not, they made us work hard for the victory. Their scrum half was excellent and their back row was very mobile. Crucially, they never gave up, pushed us all the way and gave us something to play against for the whole 80 minutes.

What was especially pleasing today was that everybody worked hard and played well for this victory. It was a team effort, and this was no more evident than in our defence, where, at times, we showed some of the best defensive play I've yet seen from this 3s squad. This was a heartening victory that felt as good and as important as any so far this season. We headed off the pitch a much happier bunch of players.

News of Scotland's football victory filtered through into the sauna in which we were changing, and it was becoming one of those days were everything seemed to be going right. The post match grub hit the spot, with a selection of pies, burgers, chips, beans and macaroni cheese on offer and Coylie getting very excited by the fact that one of Grangemouth's team photos from the early 90s contained evidence of their previous sponsorship deal with Skol lager. It was quickly agreed that the acquisition of Skol would now be the key objective in our four year marketing and sponsorship plan - either that or Kestrel, we're not that fussy.

Belly Keith was, however, quick to condemn all of Grangemouth's team shots on the grounds that "all team shots should be taken in black and white regardless of the development of technology", before finishing with a flourish, "... unless you are abroad, in which case sepia is the way forward". Wise words, indeed.

This was one of those days when you realise that entering this league and subsequently getting the opportunity to go to new places, like Grangemouth, can galvanise the spirit of this team. We just have to make sure that we're still up for the games against more familiar foes, too. That, as they say, is the key to success.

I'll leave the last words to Springsteen. As 'The Boss' quite rightly pointed out, "You can't start a fire without a spark".

Brodie

The rest of Brodie's photos are here

Stew Mel Stats

Return to 3rd XV Fixtures page