Relief at victory snatch

Published 25 Jan 2010 13:54 0 Comments

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Ant Devlin.

PRESTON LODGE 19

WANDERERS 24

A relieved Greenock Wanderers party made the journey home from Prestonpans on Saturday evening having just managed to see off the challenge of hosts Preston lodge FP at a muddy and bitterly cold Pennypit Park.

For Wanderers this was a real scare, and only a fine last quarter saw the locals overhaul a 10-point deficit and snatch the lead with just two minutes left on the clock.

One minute's applause was the prequel to the match, as all players and spectators paid tribute to Bill McLaren, the voice of rugby, who sadly passed away in the Borders during the week. When referee Alex Pratt got proceedings under way, it was the East Lothian side that were quickest out of the blocks and took the game to the league leaders.

A strong scrum gave the hosts the early advantage and forced a penalty in the first few minutes, which centre Greg Kinross knocked over to give Preston Lodge a 3-0 lead. Wanderers responded immediately and forced some pressure and territorial advantage of their own and, as the hosts struggled to repel the locals' attacks, a penalty was awarded some 22 metres out. Ant Devlin made no mistake with his opening salvo and levelled the scores with 10 minutes gone.

The match settled down with defences on top and with the normally dominant Wanderers pack struggling to contain the Preston Lodge eight at the scrum. Only when the referee decided to go to uncontested scrums did Wanderers get any respite, due to an injury to the hosts' tight head prop Cameron McLean. With the Preston Lodge advantage nullified, the travelling support hoped it would be business as usual but the hosts had other ideas and continued to give as good as they got.

Goal kickers Ant Devlin and his counterpart Greg Kinross shared four more penalties as the first half drew to a close and, with the score level on 9-9 at the interval, there was all to play for in the second half. Once more it was Preston Lodge who started brightest and on 43 minutes lock forward Alan Blair found himself in space some 20 metres out and crashed over under the posts. Kinross chipped home from the tee and the hosts had seized the initiative and the lead 16-9.

Worse was to follow 10 minutes later as a further penalty was conceded inside the Preston Lodge half. Indiscipline and back chat followed, resulting in referee Pratt marching the Wanderers side back a further 20 metres, which put the kick now well in range for Kinross. He accepted the gift to extend the hosts lead to 19-9. With the alarm bells ringing and only 20 minutes remaining, Wanderers were staring defeat in the face.

Skipper David Watson exhorted his troops to a greater effort and as Wanderers chased the game it was Kieren Smith who made the breakthrough, cutting a fine angle through the midfield channels and touching down under the posts. Devlin knocked over the conversion, but at 19-16 Wanderers were still behind. The self-belief that comes with successful teams thereafter took a hand. Preston Lodge became nervous and edgy, whereas Greenock seemed intent on saving the match. With eight minutes left, Ant Devlin once more knocked over a penalty to level the scores 19-19 and Wanderers now went for the jugular.

As the game entered the final stages, Sean Connolly kicked into the hosts' half and, as winger Guiney failed to collect, Connolly, who had followed up his own kick, continued to kick ahead into the in goal area. A foot chase followed with Connolly winning the sprint to touch down and snatch the victory for Wanderers 24-19.

President Dougie Sloan said, "We played poorly today but I was delighted with the never-say-die attitude of the players and it shows real determination to succeed when we came back from 19-9

"That attitude will stand us in good stead for our remaining matches."

Next up for Wanderers is the visit of Newton Stewart to Fort Matilda next Saturday as the locals continue in their quest to win their first league title since 2002.

l Wanderers are sponsored by National Semiconductor [UK] Ltd.

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 25 Jan 10

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