Trophy day at Fort Matilda

Published 8 Mar 2010 14:00 0 Comments

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WE'VE DONE IT: Wanderers skipper David Watson receives the Second Division Trophy from Archie Ferguson of the Scottish Rugby Union.

Greenock Wanderers 18

Highland 16

Greenock Wanderers ended their home league campaign on Saturday in front of a sizeable home support and were presented with the Scottish Hydro-Electric National League Second Division title.

It was a fitting end to months of hard work by captain David Watson and his squad and they will look forward to testing themselves in the First Division next season. At this early stage they look equipped to do very well indeed.

As far as the match went, it was very much a game of two halves with Wanderers dominating the first period and visitors Highland taking charge after the interval. Thankfully, from a Wanderers perspective, the locals had done enough in the early part of the contest to secure the victory.

On a beautiful afternoon for rugby, Wanderers opened brightly and forced all the early pressure. Within 10 minutes Ant Devlin had knocked over two penalties to give the locals a 6-0 lead.

Further pressure and territorial advantage met stiff resistance from the Highland defence and it wasn't until the half hour mark that Wanderers crossed for their first try of the afternoon. The ball was moved wide to left winger Sean Connolly and when he was tackled just short he popped a pass to support runner David Murray to touch down in the corner. Devlin added the conversion from wide on the left and extended the lead to 13-0.

From the restart Wanderers went back onto the attack and a serious of scrums were forced close to the visitors' line as the locals looked to have the game done and dusted by half time. Scrum-half Andy McDougall fed the scrum then picked up at the base and made a sniping blind side run, outfoxing his opposite man and the entire Highland defence to touch down and further extend Wanderers lead to 18-0.

As the interval beckoned Highland flickered into life led most ably by former Wanderer and current Highland captain Neil Walker. Stand off Richard Sim knocked over a long range penalty right on the stroke of half time to reduce the deficit to 18-3 but few in the crowd expected the spirited fight-back that was to ensue in the second half.

In 46 minutes visitors replacement Simon Stephen took possession in open play and made a fine run down the right wing. An exchange of passes with centre Tristan Duprez took him clear of the Wanderers cover defence and he breezed in at the corner to further reduce the deficit to 18-8.

This spurred Wanderers into life but a 10-minute spell of pressure in the Highland half failed to produce any more points and it was the visitors who regained the initiative in 65 minutes with another penalty effort by Sim which took the scores even closer at 18-11.

Highland had their tails up and launched raid after raid in an effort to draw level. However, the spirited defence that has been a feature of Wanderers' success story this season came to the fore and the visitors struggled to breach the line. Eventually, though, the dam burst and in the last minute Fijian born winger Joe Taroga touched down in the corner. Stand-off Sim had the opportunity to level the scores from the conversion but his kick sailed wide and the score remained at 18-16.

The Wanderers supporters had to endure a nervous two minutes of injury time but Highland couldn't get the vital score and Wanderers ended their home league campaign unbeaten at Fort Matilda.

President Dougie Sloan said: "All credit to Highland who came back at us in the second half. I thought we did just enough to win and it was important that we ended the home campaign on the back of a victory.

"The occasion was all about the presentation of the championship trophy and everyone thoroughly enjoyed a great day at Fort Matilda. I'd like to thank Archie Ferguson of the SRU for coming through and his kind remarks about the club during his presentation."

Wanderers: L Tyley, D Watson (captain), D Murray, K Smith, S Connolly, A Devlin, A McDougall, D Smith, A McMichael, M Lavelle, M Gray, M Duncan, A Abernethy, C Clark, C Robb, Replacements R Lavelle, J Stewart, B McGroarty.

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

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 08 Mar 10

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