Published: Monday, 4th February, 2008 12:30
Wandies crash out of Scottish Hydro Cup
By Chris Fitzgerald
Print Article
KICKING OUT: Stewart McTavish failed to find his range at Whitecraigs.
WHITECRAIGS 15,
WANDERERS 0
THE Six Nations got underway at the weekend but there was none of the glamour and glitz of the tournament evident at West Lodge.
At a miserable, rain-lashed and windswept Whitecraigs, Wanderers took their dire league form into the Scottish Cup and exited at the first hurdle to lower league opposition.
The result isn’t a complete embarrassment. These two sides will almost certainly be league rivals next campaign, via a Whitecraigs promotion and a Wanderers relegation.
Coaches Dave McVey and Iain Foster have talented individuals at their disposal. The real challenge will be moulding them into a cohesive unit in time for next season. They need to prevent the free fall effect, that decimates so many club sides in the National Leagues, taking hold. But on Saturday it was difficult to gage the problem areas, as the conditions weren’t exactly conducive to flowing rugby.
Wanderers cottoned on to this early and captain Chris Clark led a couple of charges through the middle from centre.
However, the plummeting temperature led to sloppy handling from both sides, the ball colliding with braw flesh obviously becoming increasingly more painful.
The same could be said for the players’ feet too, with not a single kick adding to the points total all afternoon.
The first of these attempts was a brace of penalties from Whitecraigs’ Ryan Moffat in 13 and 15 minutes, Wanderers being a bit naughty with hands in the ruck.
So, as kicking was out, the home side opted for the traditional rolling maul over the line to get the scoreboard moving, No.8 Kenny Hunter finally making the breakthrough in 38 minutes.
After the break things got worse for the visitors – and it wasn’t just the weather.
Callum Robb latched onto an Ant Devlin punt and supplied Johnny Adcock, but the centre fumbled, allowing the alert 12 to pounce on the loose ball and dive over the line.
Adcock then looked to redeem himself when latching onto a similar piece of good fortune at the other end.
He broke away on the left and your mortgage was on him to outpace his pursuers to make the tryline. If your mortgage was on him, you’d be homeless now!
The centre was somehow caught and neutralised before he made it home.
Wanderers’ young second row Liam Scully then had to be withdrawn owing to the polar conditions, and several other players on both sides were showing the effects of the weather.
So it was down to prop Aiden McCormack to round off the tie when he forced his way over from another set piece lineout move near to the visitors’ line, to close the scoring at 15-0.
President Donnie Cunningham said: “It was disappointing, but congratulations to Whitecraigs, who deserved their win. We wish them well in the next round.
“The truth is, we weren’t up to the task today and many of our young players suffered in the conditions. It was the same for Whitecraigs though, so that is no excuse. We’ve just got to regroup and enjoy the league run, playing in the familiar surroundings at the Fort.”
Team: S McTavish, D Watson, C Clark (C) J Adcock, N Wright, A Devlin, K Murray, M Coyle, A Hunter, G Patterson, J Mooney, L Scully, J McKenna, C Robb, A Abernethy. Replacements (all used) A McDougall, M Rodger, A Knox, N Patterson.
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Gowser set to be back in town
Further Details