BACK TO EARTH WITH A BUMP AGAINST LOWLY HADDINGTON

GHA RFC MATCH 88: HADDINGTON RFC 16 – 8 GHA RFC 

2005/2006: Scottish Premiership Two

Haddington received a massive boost in their fight to avoid relegation on Saturday with a vital victory over their Glasgow opponents.

The Scarlets put everything into the game and they produced a controlled performance which ultimatley secured a comfortable win. The slowly improving injury situation meant the home side had probably their strongest squad of the season and they started strongly to dominate early possession.

But it was the visitors who took the lead with a penalty after Ian Noble had missed a penalty for the hosts. Haddington struck back immediately to score the first try of the day after Donald Snodgrass collected a loose kick. He sent a long grubber kick into the corner and Andy Douglas outpaced the GHA defence to control the ball with his feet before touching down. The home side continued to press throughout the rest of the half and Noble slotted a penalty before Douglas claimed his second try of the day.

The ball was won cleanly at a lineout and Will Oldham offloaded to the charging Craig Adam. He tied up several GHA defenders and Noble took the ball from the ensuing ruck to feed Tim Campbell. He delivered a sumptuous pass to Douglas to let him race over in the corner for a half-time score of 13-3.

Noble made it 16-3 with a penalty after the break as GHA tried to come back into the match. Mark was yellow carded for a handling offence in a ruck with 20 minutes to go – but the Scarlets still kept their opponents out with some ease.

The visitors did eventually score a try with a couple of minutes left when centre Ross West burst through to score. But it was no more than a consolation as Haddington never looked likely to ship more points before the game finished. The vital win was based on a solid performance by the Scarlets pack who did the basics superbly and edged the battle in the loose.

Source: The East Lothian Courier, Wednesday 1st February 2006