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After a gentle reminder, Baz Lawson admirably steps up to the keyboard to provide a match report for the 3rd:
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Watsonian 3rd XV vs. Edinburgh University 3rd XV
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Firstly I would like to apologise this week for the poor quality of the match report that is to follow, it is not often your favourite scribe is left struggling for something to say but unfortunately due to not expecting to be writing it this week I probably didn't pay enough attention from the sideline. Some of the following may be fictitious but no offence is meant to any of the players who were on the field this weekend been.
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It was a bleak day in Edinburgh when the mighty 3rds trudged onto pitch M2. With a wind that could only be described as a howling gale and a wind chill factor meaning that the mercury was dipping close to 0 Kelvin (for those of you less learned individuals out there 0 Kelvin is absolute zero or -273.15 degrees Celsius). Coach Easton had the not so envious task of again taking a team with some fairly new faces who hadn't played together this season and turning them into a rugby force to be reckoned with.
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It looked as though it was going to be a tough day when it was noticed while warming up that the referee was the same one that had star hooker Mixu McPhillips suspended for 6 weeks last season for an outrageous outburst that I am too ashamed to put to print here. It was so bad that even the referee himself could not remember the exact wording when questioned by the judiciary. To top this off we then lost the toss and the lads were forced to play into a now stronger Grade 2 hurricane wind which would see us camped in our own half for long periods of the first half.
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From the kick off the game started scrappily and with the wind at their backs the university boys used the boot smartly and played the territory game very well. They were camped in, or near the Watsonians 22 for the first ten minutes of the match but some very strong defending from Watsonians and fortunately the occasional dropped ball from the opposition saw the try line not get crossed. When finally Watsonians had the ball, they had the hard job of trying to run it back at the opposition as the wind rendered the kicking game useless, this however didn't deter new Kiwi inside centre Dan Williams and outside centre Murray Soutar who seemed to enjoy keeping the ball in hand and having a go at the defence.
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Like many weeks gone by this season the Watsonian forward pack claimed early dominance over the opposition, aptly led up front by the old heads of McAinsh and Campbell with the loose trio also being effective all over the park. With a Watsonians throw to the lineout just inside the opposition, the ball goes to second rower Tyrley (I hope that's his name??) who placed it under the jersey and let the pack march forward under the barking orders of young Andrew the South African scrumhalf. After much shoving and wheeling the mass of bodies cross the line for a 5 pointer with Tyrley claiming the glory, new fly half Joe kicked the further 2 points, WFC 7 - EU 0.
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At this point the game changed somewhat and Watsonians managed to find their feet and apply more pressure to the visiting side spending a lengthy spell in the opposition half. An Edinburgh scrum 5 metres out from their own line saw the dominant Watson's pack give the Uni team a solid shunt which saw the ball spill out of the back for Hamish Baird (I hope that's his name) the eager blind side flank scamper through to steal another 5 points, the conversion was unsuccessful which saw it become WFC 12 - EU 0.
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One more try came before the half again to young Tyrley taking the score to WFC 17 - EU 0.
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At half time Coach Easton felt we had the winning of the game in hand and made some intelligent changes at the half which saw a more mobile and fresh pack take to the field as due to an opposition injury the game shifted to uncontested scrums. This is likely to happen quite regularly when the home team has the equivalent of a small island nation propping up one side of the scrum. After the break the fresh legs and confidence began to show and the backs began to run freely and the forwards maintained their dominance, however instead of killing the game off straight after half time a lack of patience and over confidence saw the backs plunder a couple of certain tries before the young Aussie winger Sam Mackey was rewarded for working hard all game, latching onto the end of a break away by the backs to stretch out and cross the line. Conversion was unsuccessful and the score was now WFC 22 - EU 0.
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At this time I trotted off to fill the water bottles but in my absence I heard that nothing had happened and the score was still as it was when I left. Coach Easton was now marching up and down the touch line stating his prowess and it must be said that if Jose "The chosen one" Mourinho had this much ego he would have been axed from Chelsea many moons ago. When seeing his enjoyment I asked if he liked the EA sports game Football Manager 2007, he merely stated it was for amateurs as he had his own real life team to play with. Anyway I digress, back to the game where something was actually happening back on the field with another break from the forwards and some quick interchanging saw Tyrley latch onto a final pass. Now this is where his youthful inexperience showed through and he crossed the line for his third try of the game and the shout went out for jugs all round. Conversion was unsuccessful leaving the score at WFC 27 - EU 0.
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Again from the kick off Watsonians were back on the attack, and from a 5 metre scrum big number 8 Andy "Baldwin" Learmont charged for the line only to be cut short by the opposition centre, which in turn cut short the rest of FAB's game with an injured shoulder. It was sad to see him walk off after an absolute stormer of a game making lots of yards with ball in hand and some decent turn over ball in defence.
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The final try of the game came from an absolute howler by the Edinburgh Uni full back, coming forward to take a high ball he knocked it forward under no pressure at all. Forgetting all about playing to the whistle he stopped and placed his hands on his head only for our covering full back Kenny to come chasing through to toe the ball ahead and recollect to dive over the line unopposed, needless to say the opposition fullback soon had his hands back on his head when he realised his blunder. The conversion was successful and the final score was WFC 34 - EU 0.
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A much deserved win for the Watsonians 3rds, who once they managed to find their feet, dominated the game through some very hard work from the forward pack in both the loose and the set pieces, which set up a solid platform for the backs to work from. Very strong defence from the backs, in particular kiwi inside centre Dan Williams who put the hits in all day, leaving the university team without any spoils and helping to keep a valuable clean sheet. Hopefully we can start to see a few of these faces turning up regularly in the weekends (and at training on at least Thursday) and begin to get some consistency in our game week on week to move our way back up the table. Also I just re read this and it does appear I didn't struggle to meet my word count after all, and for those of you who are concerned Ciaran Wilson will be back next week to take up his usual reporting duties.
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BL
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watsoniansrugby.com
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Published: 22/11/07
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