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After leading by example on the pitch, back row virtuoso Martin Macari provides this week's tale of 2 halves:
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4th XV v Linlithgow
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After a start to the season which has seen the Dream Team struggling to produce full sides and missing a few regulars, things had a slightly more familiar look on Saturday as Linlithgow travelled to Myreside for a crunch league match.
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Returning to the side was Captain Philippe Hourcastagné, the free flowing French fancy whose rampaging runs and tenacious tackling are, if nothing else, popular with fans of alliteration. Also making a welcome comeback was one of the sides most talismanic personalities, Charlie Crawford, whose protracted early season holidaying exploits may not have improved his fitness much but enabled him to sport a magnificent tan, giving him the look of a dark haired Percy Montgomery, but slightly more attractive to women.
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Crawford completed a dynamic back row trio alongside this writer and the medical marvel, Chris James, who appears to be able to play almost any position on the park with gusto.
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An arguably even more impressive trio was the 9-10-12 combination of Mark Gifford, James McDougall and Torquil Mathewson. Mathewson, the former 1st XV man, who had also previously starred for Glasgow, was returning to the side after his try scoring debut for the 4th XV earlier in the season and added an element of class to the midfield area. The barrel chested Gifford, meanwhile, gave some much need bulk to the scrum half role although the fact that he never at any stage knew the line out calls, made that area of his game a little bit hit and miss. Usually the latter. The meat in the Gifford - Mathewson sandwich was of course the sprightly McDougall, whose pulsating runs and torpedo like kicking from hand, confirmed why he likes to be known as the 'Dan Parks' of the 4th XV. Peter Cox added his youthful enthusiasm to the outside centre position.
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Meanwhile, the pack was bolstered by the lazarus like return of Duncan Small at hooker after an injury enforced absence. He completed a front row of Dougie Meikle and Norrie Rowan, the sort of trio that mothers tell their children about to scare them if they have been bad.
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The return of some old faces was not to say that there wasn’t some innovative selections. Young Andy Carson whose only previous game for the club was in the centre, started at lock whilst on the wing was Neil Freshwater who hadn’t played rugby for over 8 years. This was trumped by substitute 'Anthony' a man whose sporting pedigree was on the Gaelic Football pitch and who had never played rugby before in his life. "He still knew more about the game that a few others in the team" observed someone, anonymously.
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Playing with the slope and with the sun behind their backs, the 4th XV started the game at 100 mph, scoring within seconds. Having stolen the ball, Crawford barged forward and slipped a pass to Ken Campbell, who in the words of David Coleman, "opened his legs and showed his class".
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This was to the start of what was a champagne period of play by the home side whose handling and interpassing was a joy to behold if you were a Watsonian supporter. The visitors had no answer in the early stages to wave after wave of Watsonian attack which thundered towards the Linlithgow line and tries were scored by Crawford (2?) and Mathewson. Even coach/manager/player Rod Hathway got in on the act with a bit of handling during one of the Watsonian scores, which was of course a cause for major celebration.
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But for all the early dominance, Linlithgow were showing that they weren’t a side that was going to give up without a fight. Their defence in the midfield was solid and they made regular forays into the Watsonian half, often kicking from deep and punishing any errors by the Myreside men. But it was one such kick in fact that lead to the next and, as it turned out, last Watsonian score as the ball went into touch just inside the home 22. Captain Hourcastagné, ever vigilant and determined to attack wherever and whenever the opportunity presented itself, took a quick throw to Torquil Mathewson who set off at a great rate of knots. Mathewson jinked and swerved and sidestepped through the onrushing throng of Linlithgow defenders, emerging unscathed with the ball and in open space deep in the visitors half. With one man to beat, he displayed the "famous body swerve" (not unlike Fingermouse, in fact) and romped home to score after what had been an epic 80m (ish) run. The fact that he henceforth left the pitch for 5 mins was put down to a blood injury and not due to the requirement for oxygen or a bit of immediate lavish praise from his wife, who was watching on adoringly from the sidelines.
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After all that effort, the visitors scored within approximately 5 seconds of the restart after Watsonians looked on indifferently as the restart kicked bounced straight into a pair of Linlithgow hands and no one could apparently be bothered to tackle him.
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H/T: 31- 7
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More of the same was expected in the second half, but it didn’t come. Instead, Linlithgow fought back with panache and put Watsonians to the sword. A number of changes had been made to the home side with Small and Gifford both going off, but that alone could not explain the change in events. It didn’t help of course that everyone had been expecting the Linlithgow 'old boys' to tire which they absolutely failed to do, leaving the supposedly younger and fitter (not) Watsonian XV to flounder about, out of puff. The line outs became a veritable minefield and the tackling was far less impressive than it had been. Having said that, Chris James, now playing at scrum half, pulled one bit of defensive magic out of the bag. After 5 minutes of pressure in the home 22, one burly Linlithgow veteran hurtled over the line only to be deftly flipped on his back by James, an effort that even got a congratulatory pat from the Linlithgow man himself.
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Watsonians tried to get back on the scoresheet and there was a period of pressure near the end which culminated in a penalty relatively near the posts. With the abuse of the other 29 players ringing in his ears, forward leader Macari insisted that they go for the points and stand in kicker McDougall was forced unenthusiastically into having a go. Ever the traditionalist, McDougall refuses to use one of these new fangled kicking-tee things, preferring to create one of those large castles of mud which were so popular in the 1970s and balancing the ball precariously on top. Having spent so long building said castle he had very little time for the actual kick which appeared to go at a 90 degree angle from that intended, approximately 2 m off the ground. "It was one of those world cup balls without the sponsor's logo and it was over/under inflated" he complained later
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Anyway, with less than 5 mins left, Linlithgow scored a try to put them within a score and the nervousness amongst the home ranks was apparent for all to see. Luckily, the defence held and Watsonians notched up the victory …just.
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F/T: 31 – 24
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It should be noted that once again referee duties were performed by the self proclaimed "pedantic old bugger" Rob Easton. Disaster struck at the end of the first half when said P.O.B. announced that he had pulled a calf muscle. Unfortunately, no one else offered to help and Rob had to carry on with the caveat that "I’ll just have to walk about and I won't be near the play". After the game, resident comic McDougall noted that "I never noticed the difference"
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MM
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watsoniansrugby.com
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Published: 4/11/07
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