GHK v Dumfries Saints, March 7, 2020-03-01
Having had a rugby free February, GHK got back in to action with a home tie against promotion rivals Dumfries. After a keenly fought contest, it was the men from the South who prevailed with the last kick of the match. There was much drama and controversy in the eighty minutes.
GHK were caught cold with the first play of the game. Having kicked off attacking the pavilion end, GHK chased a number of shadows as Dumfries strung together a few tidy phases, ran a couple of angles through a sleepy home defence and claimed an easy seven points.
The young Saints pack were dominating possession and with Jack Steele pulling the strings it all looked a wee bit too easy for the visitors. It took GHK a while to finally get in to some sort of cohesive pattern. A good attacking position from a five metre scrum looked promising, but again the aggressive Dumfries eight snuffed out the potential danger.
The GHK cause was not aided by their regular offending in the eyes of referee Lee Fish. The penalty ratio must have been of the order of five to one against the hosts. Eventually the inevitable yellow card followed with Callum Browne being the random choice of culprit. An injury to high flying Ben Hutton further dented the home attacking efforts. Having said that, Scott Davidson was a very able replacement and featured prominently in his hour’s worth of action.
The early try was the only scoring action of the first half. Seven nil to Dumfries at the break.
Not long in to the second period GHK looked to have worked out a way to focus the minds of the abrasive Saints’ defence. Led by Kevin Bryce, Nick Hurn and Neil Callander, the Glasgow forwards started to make a lot of hard yards with some structured drives. For the first time in the game it did rather look as though they had sniffed out a weakness in the visitors’ game plan. From one such drive, that started from a line out, Nick Hurn was helped over the whitewash for the equalising score. It was fair reward for dominance of possession and territory in the second half.
Whilst it would be overstating it to say that GHK were in control they definitely had a bit of an edge. Dumfries were not going to lie down to this state of affairs and they continued to try to get on the front foot when the opportunity arose. A promising threequarter move in to the GHK half looked to have broken down when the ball was very obviously knocked on in midfield. However, the handling error was not picked up and moments later GHK were penalised again. The penalty was converted and the visitors edged ahead once more. That GHK penalty count!
In to the last quarter GHK kept up the pressure that had served themselves well in the second half. Eventually it was Dumfries’ turn to infringe as the struggled to keep the GHK forward driving game at bay. With four minutes to go GHK drew level with a penalty that looked straightforward but probably wasn’t given the circumstances.
In the closing moments GHK got themselves back in to the visitors’ twenty two. They looked to be in great position to clinch victory especially as the defence was becoming particularly desperate. A few more phases and surely a penalty would come or a gap would appear. It looked to be GHK’s game for the taking. There was however one last drama to come.
With the forwards applying the squeeze and grinding Dumfries back foot by foot, the home side took what, with the benefit of hindsight, was the wrong option. A drop goal attempt was charged down. The breakout was on. The lively Dumfries backs moved the ball quickly deep in to GHK territory. The scramble defence got there just in time. Another hint of a Saints’ knock on was ignored. The GHK defence repelled several drives towards their own line. It was just what the visitors had been doing at the other end of the pitch ninety seconds earlier. However, once again GHK were pinged by the referee. It was, to say the least, a dramatic call. With the penalty advantage, a couple of further drives were attempted. When these came to nothing the play was brought back and the decisive penalty was slotted. It was the last kick of the game. GHK 10 Dumfries 13
A draw would probably have been a fair result. GHK will be gutted at the manner of the losing. The win keeps Dumfries in the promotion hunt and GHK are still in the mix. The chase goes on.
GHK Edinburgh Gin man of the match – for a superb eighty minutes leading from the front – Kevin Bryce. Well done sir.
Next game at home to Gordonians – Friday 13 March kick off 8.00 pm.
The game was only half the story of Saturday at Old Anniesland with the GHK Legends Lunch taking centre stage before the match. The unveiling of the framed international jerseys belonging to Shade Munro, Murray Wallace and Alan Watt, with the three gents present, was one of many highlights of a great day. There is nothing quite like a gathering of old friends. Till the next time…..