Wanderers suffer crushing defeat
Published 16 Jan 2012 13:00
0 Comments
Greenock Wanderers' hopes of avenging an early season defeat to Glasgow Hutchesons/Aloysians were cruelly dashed at Braidholm on Saturday by a ruthless GHA side that dominated the match and posted an eight-try victory.
Wanderers posted an under-par display, with the quality of performance, tackling efficiency and cutting edge all missing. Up front, skipper Matt Gray and Calum Robb stood out in a pack that toiled, while Brendan McGroarty, the Wanderers vice-captain, produced another eye-catching performance.
The scoreboard started ticking over quickly and the Wanderers were 21 points adrift in the opening quarter. In the fourth minute, a speculative kick deep in Wanderers territory bounced fortuitously for Hefin O'Hare who followed up and breezed untouched under the Wanderers posts. Scrum-half Murray Houston notched the first of his points from the tee to give GHA a seven-point lead.
On 15 minutes, more pressure led to the award of a scrum for the Glasgow side five metres from Wanderers' line. Clean ball was won and when spun wide by Houston, full-back Ross McClymont entered the line to touch down near to the posts. Murray doubled the hosts lead with another conversion.
Five minutes later, the game was almost over as a contest when lineout ball was secured by second row Jamie Auld. He delivered to Murray and when the scrum-half spread the play, right winger Rangi Jericevich was the spare man and he sped over the touchline. Murray's conversion from wide on the right was superbly struck to stretch the lead to 21-0.
The locals were facing a humiliating defeat, but skipper Gray cajoled his troops.
On 32 minutes, Robb picked up at the base of a scrum and made ground over the halfway line. When second phase ball was spun wide, McGroarty took possession 30-yards out and blasted through three tackles on his way over the line. Kenny Diffenthal knocked over the conversion to reduce the deficit to 21-7.
As half-time loomed, the hosts regained the ascendancy and were awarded a penalty in centre midfield. Murray slotted his kick over to extend GHA's lead at the interval to 24-7.
The opening quarter of the second period was an unmitigated disaster for the Greenock side as the hosts hammered home their superiority with four more tries.
On 48 minutes, replacement prop forward Chris Binnie barrelled over after sustained pressure and on 55 minutes, Alan Auld was first to react, diving over from close range to extend the lead to 34-7.
Worse was to follow, when Henderson got his reward for a fine display when he picked a fine line through the Wanderers defence.
Two minutes later, with the locals on the attack, winger John Brogan collected a loose ball near his own 22-metre line and sprinted 75-yards to touch down in the corner. Murray converted both to make it 48-7.
With 10 minutes left, Wanderers achieved some consolation when McGroarty made a searing break through the centre channel. When stopped close to the line, he passed to Gray who fed Stewart Alexander to touch down wide on the left.
The final word went to the hosts.
From the restart, Wanderers didn't deal with the kick-off and could only manage to bundle the ball into touch. Quality lineout ball was secured and when the play was spread wide, stand-off Dominic Dunn was the spare man and he touched down near the posts. Murray completed the scoring with another neat chip from the tee.
Although well beaten on the day, Wanderers take some credit from the spirit they showed throughout. The locals will have to recover quickly as they face a difficult west coast derby match next Saturday at Ardrossan.
Wanderers: David Watson, Aidan Crossan, Leigh Tyley, Brendan McGroarty, Allan Knox, Kenny Diffenthal, Andy McDougall, Dougie Smith, Yan Young, Martin Lavelle, Matt Gray (C), Ali Abernethy, John Stewart, Graham Mooney, Calum Robb. Replacements: Stewart Alexander, Evan Middleton, Nic Wright, Scott Black (all used).
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 16 Jan 12
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.
