Wanderers finish with a flourish

Published 12 Apr 2010 14:00 0 Comments

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ALIVE AND KICKING: Ant Devlin, shown in action last week against Dalziel, scored some vital points with the boot at the weekend.

Greenock Wanderers concluded their Scottish Hydro-Electric National league programme on Saturday with a gutsy performance and another victory at Langloan against Waysiders.

Selecting a side that showed nine changes to the team that secured a place on Finals Day last weekend, Wanderers were always going to be up against it. But that winning spirit shone through in the end to give the locals a superb league record of 21 wins from their 22 matches this season.

The fixture was played in brilliant sunshine but with a narrow pitch at Langloan, Wanderers found it difficult to get their normal width on the game. However, when the ball did go wide, youngsters Greg Workman, Greg Fletcher and under-18s debutant Callum Reid looked dangerous.

Fellow under-18 star Yan Young also made his Wanderers 1st XV debut and he had a fine game and showed the conveyor belt of talented youngsters coming through the age group system at the club continues.

Wanderers started brightly and in five minutes a flowing backs move orchestrated by Fletcher and Reid took play deep into the hosts half. Desperate defence led to the Lanarkshire men breaching the offside line and the trusty boot of Ant Devlin drew first blood for Wanderers from the resultant penalty.

The match became a scrappy affair, with handling errors and regular stoppages, but on the half-hour mark, wing forward John Stewart pirated ball from a Waysiders lineout and charged on.

When tackled, Stewart set up the ruck and a quick ball found Devlin, who released his back line. Winger Workman pinned back his ears and outstripped the cover defence to touch down. Devlin added the conversion and Wanderers looked comfortable at 10-0.

Waysiders were stung into a response though, and some territorial advantage led to the award of a penalty deep inside the Wanderers half. Stand-off Phil McKenzie slotted the kick to reduce the deficit to 10-3.

As half-time beckoned, Wanderers went on the offensive again and several strong ball carries by Young took play into the heart of Waysiders territory.

When the inevitable penalty was conceded, Devlin once more obliged from the tee to extend the lead to 13-3.

It was the hosts who seized the early initiative in the second half and they enjoyed their best spell of the game.

Some pressure on the Wanderers line led to desperate defence and Graham Finnie was yellow carded for killing the ball at a ruck.

McKenzie slotted the penalty to bring the score to 13-6. Reduced to fourteen men, Wanderers defended bravely but the pressure told eventually.

A fine try-saving tackle by Reid merely delayed the inevitable and quick ball was recycled by Waysiders, with centre Brian McMillan going over under the posts. McKenzie knocked over the conversion and squared the tie at 13-13.

With Finnie back out of the sin bin, Wanderers reasserted themselves and looked the more likely to secure the victory as the game entered the final quarter.

A fine break by Reid and Fletcher once more took play deep into Waysiders territory and when the ball was worked wide it was prop forward Dougie Smith who gave vent to his flamboyant side and somersaulted over the line to touch down and snatch the win for Wanderers.

Devlin once more added the icing and completed the scoring at 20-13.

President Dougie Sloan said: "It's been a great campaign and I'm delighted we finished with a win.

"We can all focus now entirely on the final in a fortnight and hopefully complete the season with a great day out and some more silverware."

l Wanderers: D Smith, A McMichael, M Lavelle, M Gray [C], N Patterson, J Stewart, A Abernethy, G Finnie, I Forster, A Devlin, G Workman, D Murray, L Tyley, G Fletcher, C Reid. Replacements: R Lavelle, Y Young (Both used)

Wanderers are sponsored by National Semiconductor (UK) Ltd

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 12 Apr 10

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