Greenock Telegraph | Sport | Skipper suffers horror injury as Wanderers crash

Thursday, 20th November, 2008

Published: Monday, 15th October, 2007 12:30

Skipper suffers horror injury as Wanderers crash

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RISE ABOVE IT: Jamie Mooney secures lineout ball as Wanderers struggle to utilise home advantage against Langholm on Saturday.

Pic by: Kris Cairns

Greenock Wanderers 16, Langholm 22

Greenock Wanderers’ season lurched to further disappointment on Saturday — not just in losing a very winnable game against Langholm — but with losing captain Dave Craven for the rest of the season with a snapped Achilles tendon.

The skipper had been in the thick of the action as normal and, on getting to his feet after a ruck, he took a few steps before collapsing in agony with what is a career-threatening injury.

Craven will not play again this term and a decision on his rugby future will be taken at a later date, once all the medical reports are in.

Wanderers’ latest hardluck story started well enough, with the lion’s share of possession and territorial advantage in the first half. Incessant pressure on the Langholm line led to penalties being awarded and Ant Devlin slotted from the tee after five minutes to give Wanderers a 3-0 lead.

Langholm, to their credit, responded quickly and forced some field position, although rarely looked like breaching the Wanderers’ line. Full back Colin Jardine gave notice of his proficiency with the boot though, with a fairly long range kick from wide on the left to tie the scores after a Wanderers infringement at the breakdown.

A further penalty conceded by Langholm, for offside in 15 minutes, gave Devlin the opportunity to re-establish Wanderers’ lead and he made no mistake from 30 yards out. A few moments later skipper Craven met his fate and was helped off the field by Wanderers medical staff.

With the skipper gone, Langholm seized the initiative and another bout of poor defending by Wanderers led to a further penalty award to the visitors, which Jardine slotted to level the scores at 6-6.

In 30 minutes Wanderers won a scrum just inside the visitors’ half. Calum Robb picked up and set off down the narrow side. Good link play between scrum half McDougall and centre Clark eventually released flying winger Jason Smith and he took play deep into the Langholm 22. When tackled, Smith recycled quickly and crisp delivery across the backline led to brother Kieren Smith scampering over in the corner. Devlin pulled the conversion attempt, but at 11-6 Wanderers were good value for their lead.

As half-time approached Langholm started a revival and Jardine pegged back the lead to 11-9 with his third successful penalty of the day, after another offside decision against the hosts.

Langholm came out firing on all cylinders in the second half and within 10 minutes of the restart had turned an 11-9 deficit into a 19-11 lead. Firstly solid driving forward play took the visitors close to the Wanderers line and when the penalty was conceded, a quick tap move resulted in hooker Scott Devlin crashing over under the posts. Jardine converted and just four minutes later Jardine once more took full advantage of a penalty opportunity when he slotted from 40 yards out to put some daylight between the teams.

In 62 minutes Wanderers did get reward for all the pressure when Jason Smith scored in the corner to make the score 19-16 in the visitors’ favour.

David Murray and Kieran Smith came close, but last gasp Langholm defence saved the day on each occasion.

In 78 minutes a rare sortie into Wanderers territory gave Jardine another shot at goal from a penalty and he completed the scoring at 22-16.

On full time the Langholm celebrations owed as much to relief as delight, as they were aware they had managed to secure a win much against the run of play.

President Donnie Cunningham said: “We simply can’t afford to lose games like that if we are to climb out of the relegation positions. The biggest disappointment to me though is losing captain Dave Craven for the rest of the season.

“He is highly respected by all at the club and his leadership will be missed on the park. Everyone at Wanderers wishes him a speedy recovery and we look forward to seeing him back at the club soon.”

Wanderers now face a series of away matches, starting next week against Hillfoots at Tillicoultry.

Team K Murray, J Smith, C Clark, D Murray, J smith, A Devlin, A McDougall, D Craven [C], M Younger, M Rodger, L Scully, J Mooney, D Clayton, C Robb, A Abernethy. Replacements, J Stewart, R Lavelle, S Bleasdale.

l Wanderers are sponsored by National Semiconductor (UK) Ltd.

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