Stobswell 7 - Waid Academy FPRFC 96

After several very tough games, there were a number of changes in the Waid starting XV to give some players more game time. Playing uphill and against the wind in the first half, Waid coped well with a team that wanted to get involved in scrums and close play as much as they could, but the speed and support of the Waid players was too much for them.

After a scrappy start, Waid took an early lead after repeated rucks allowed Alex Gregg (newly returned from his honeymoon) to pick and go to score the day’s first try – and set up an straight-forward conversion for man of the match Gary Anderson to pop over the first of his 13 conversions. Stobswell continued to hold out repeated waves of similar drives from Waid but they were eventually overcome from a stolen lineout which allowed Waid captain, Alan Drysdale, who scored. Stobswell found it hard to make any distance when in possession because of the Waid tackling and they resorted to trying to kick clear only for Robbie Allen to take the ball deep in his own half then run at the hosts before offloading to Sean Nicoll to drive on, supported by Drysdale and Adam Shaw who scored. This was followed up in similar manner when Drysdale again used his strength and pace to pass the defence and release Ally Brunton inside him to score. Stobswell were not for giving up, however, and scored when they intercepted a pass from Drysdale when it looked as though Waid were off again. From a Stobbie knock-on, Bruce Hawkins started a move that Niall Hutchison, then Adam Shaw took on and when it looked as though the latter was through to score, he passed to the supporting Ally Brunton. A similar try was scored a few minutes later when a kick through by Stobbie was recovered by Niall Hutchison who jinked through several defenders and then offloaded to Alan Drysdale before Mark Guthrie took the final pass to touch down. Almost immediately from the kick off, Waid went around the narrow side with Adam Shaw breaking several tackles and finding Ally Brunton on his inside again to score again. Half time Stobswell 7, Waid 47.

The second half started with some changes to the Waid XV and from an early ruck the ball was quickly moved through the hands to Alan Drysdale who ran three quarters of the length of the pitch to score. From the restart Mark Guthrie recovered the ball and Waid No. 10, George Hodge, kicked the ball through the advancing Stobbie defence for Hawkins and Andy MacIver to chase, both catching the defender and holding him pending the arrival of Alex Gregg who took the chance to lift the ball and score again. The next Waid try came from more pressure on the Stobbie 10 who got the ball at the same time as Adam Shaw arrived at him. Adam’s back row colleague, Alex Gregg, gratefully took the stolen ball to score again. Soon after that, Adam got his chance to score when he stole the ball off the tail of the lineout and went through himself to score a try. Shaw was again involved in the next try, again with the Stobbie stand off not welcoming the attention of the Waid flanker. From the loose play, Mark Guthrie played football down the left wing before generously turning the final kick into the centre of the pitch for Gary Anderson to collect it and score. There was still time available for 2 more Waid tries: the first from replacement, Stephen Denny, switching play from a scrum and releasing Alex Gregg for another fine try under the Stobbie posts and finally Alan Drysdale being the eventual recipient of multiple offloads to end the scoring.

Final score: Stobswell 7, Waid 96. Still on top of the league but now with a much better points difference.

Next week – North Angus Development at Anstruther.

Match Report by Dewar Spence