Wanderers storm to place in final

Published 5 Apr 2010 14:00 0 Comments

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RUNNING THROUGH: Anthony Devlin.

GREENOCK Wanderers booked their place in the Scottish Hydro-Electric National Shield Final at Murrayfield on 24 April with a stunning 80 minutes of rugby at Fort Matilda on Saturday and in doing so, knocked out First Division leaders and shield favourites Dalziel.

A bumper crowd gathered at the Fort to will the locals on to victory and they were treated to a magnificent performance by Wanderers as they swept aside their more fancied opponents, who arrived in Greenock with a perfect unbeaten record.

Wanderers posted notice of their intentions as early as the first minute when the front five mercilessly drove the Dalziel pack backwards at the first scrum.

This set the tone for the match and it was a dominant set-piece performance that laid the foundation for this victory.

The forwards to a man were superb and battled doggedly throughout. The key partnerships worked well all over the park.

Matt Gray and Callum Robb were imperious in the lineout, the front row dominated the scrums and breakaway forwards Graham Mooney and Matt Duncan covered every blade of grass as they hounded the Dalziel pack and turned over ball at regular intervals.

The first 40 minutes were played almost entirely in the visitors half with Wanderers dominating the early exchanges and enjoying the territorial advantage.

A 6-0 lead from two Ant Devlin penalties was all Wanderers had to show for their efforts but that was about to change. On 36 minutes Ali Abernethy secured ball at the lineout and a swift handling move gave centre Kieren Smith the opportunity to test the visitors defence.

The Wanderers youngster needed no second invitation and he blasted through the centre midfield chamnel to touch down under the posts. Devlin added the conversion and at the interval Wanderers led 13-0.

Dalziel have not been promoted into the Premiership for nothing and they came out fighting in the second half.

Within five minutes they had reduced the deficit to 13-6 after stand-off Ross McAulay knocked over two penalties awarded for offside.

As the First Division leaders looked to be seizing the initiative, Wanderers rallied and some pressure on the visitors line led to the award of another penalty for offside against an over-eager Dalziel defence. Devlin once more slotted over from a wide angle to steady the Wanderers ship and increase the lead to 16-6.

On 52 minutes Matt Gray secured more quality ball from the lineout and the terrier-like McDougall snapped the ball wide to his back line. Several phases of play were set up with Wanderers recycling clean ball on each occasion. Prop forward Dougie Smith carried into the heart of the visitors defence and when the ball was moved wide again that man McGroarty, not for the first time this season, brought the house down with a powerful run that saw him burst through three tackles and touch down in the corner with two further Dalziel defenders trailing in his wake.

Devlin's masterclass in kicking continued and he added the conversion points once more from wide on the left and at 23-6 the Wanderers faithful began dreaming about Murrayfield.

More was to come though. On the hour mark another superb handling move between forwards and backs stretched the visitors defence yet again and skipper David Watson straightened the line before being tackled 10 yards short. Support runner Alan McMichael was on hand though and he followed McGroarty's example and dragged two Dalziel defenders with him as he touched down over the line. Devlin obliged from the tee to further extend the lead to 30-6.

As the game entered the final quarter Dalziel threw caution to the wind and got just rewards for some possession of their own. On 65 minutes, prop forward Craig Lewis touched down after Wanderers were stretched by a fine forward drive and in 78 minutes Dalziel skipper Craig Simmonds also breached the Wanderers line to complete the scoring at 30-16.

President Dougie Sloan said: "Naturally we are delighted with the result and it will give the boys a lot of confidence, not just for the final but for next season.

"The final at Murrayfield will be a massive day for the club and we hope a large support will travel through from the town to support us."

Wanderers will meet Division Two rivals Lasswade in the final in what will be a fantastic climax to the season. The sides have met twice already in the league with a win apiece being recorded.

Wanderers: D Watson [C], L Tyley, B McGroarty, K Smith, S Connolly, A Devlin, A McDougall, D Smith, A McMichael, M Lavelle, M Gray, A Abernethy, M Duncan, G Mooney, C Robb; Replacements J Stewart, G Fletcher, J McArthur [all used]

Wanderers are sponsored by National Semiconductor [UK] Ltd.

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 05 Apr 10

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