NATIONAL LEAGUE 1
SATURDAY 30th NOVEMBER 2024
GHA 42 HIGHLAND RFC 13
By CHRIS NAIRN
After several weekends of enforced inactivity due to Autumn Nations Series matches and the weather, it was a delight to report to Braidholm for League duty this Saturday. A very important opportunity to heighten awareness of Men’s Mental Health and Cancer took the shape of our Movember Lunch- which was very well attended. The pitch despite the recent cold snap was in very good condition, soft on top but capable of holding a stud. An overcast damp day with light rain always threatening, greeted the players as they went through their preparations. Both sides went through a series of warm up drills, then whole team scenarios where the emphasis seemed to be on moving the ball quickly. This would be a tough encounter for the home side, who managed to prevail in the Highlands but knew to triumph in this return fixture would require total commitment and excellent execution against a Highland side who move the ball at pace and have talent a plenty in their squad.
A guard of honour from the Primary 4 contingent of our Junior Section welcomed the players to the arena.
Highland kicked off and the ball was gathered by Adam Kerr who worked the ball to Ben Curtis, who cleared up to halfway. An early penalty was awarded to the home side which allowed GHA to move play well inside the Highland ten metre area. An excellent catch from Adam Kerr established a platform for Messrs Goudie, Drummond and Fox to penetrate the visitor’s defence. However, the move was stopped with a penalty awarded to Highland for GHA not releasing in the tackle on the Highland twenty-two. The visitors began to move with purpose into the GHA half and put pressure on the GHA rearguard. Play moved back and forth over the ten metre areas as both sides tried to find a way through strong defences. Highland won a penalty inside the GHA ten metre area and Scott Fraser put in a superb kick to give Highland the lead after four minutes. The score was: GHA 0 HIGHLAND 3.
The home side attempted to respond instantly and on regaining possession made a terrific flowing move which took them to the very line of the visitors. A penalty was awarded to the Highland side to great cheers from their supporters and the danger was cleared. It would become an irritating feature of this match that a number of penalties were conceded by both sides at crucial moments, which broke any momentum they tried to establish. This, plus knock-ons, careless passes and offsides all added to a rather scrappy and untidy match which led to frustrations on the pitch and in the stands.
Following a further flurry of penalties and stoppages we reached the fifteenth minute mark. Neither side was able, in the circumstances, to achieve dominance but there were flashes, especially from the home side, of a well put together drive or move only failing with excellent defensive tackling. By the eighteenth minute excellent work by the GHA team had forced play deep into the visitor’s half and Adam Kerr- following great work in the lineout- fought his way over to score. An excellent conversion from a difficult angle by Gregor Drummond, to loud cheering from the Braidholm faithful, made the score: GHA 7 HIGHLAND 3.
Highland came straight back at the home team from the restart and soon found themselves inside the GHA half with Scott Fraser and Hugo Crush asking questions of the home defence. A lovely move by Messrs Corr, Crush, Murray, Fraser and Carson just broke down inside the GHA twenty-two metre area and in the resulting scramble to retain the loose ball, Highland were again awarded a penalty. The visitors kicked to the corner and were now in a superb attacking position. At this crucial moment the home side were awarded a penalty for an infringement and immediately the very real danger was cleared up to the ten metre area. The constant stoppages were affecting both sets of players who were beginning to snatch at passes, or rush passes in an attempt to keep the play flowing. As we reached the half hour, there was an unsettled, scrappy period of play which tended to crab across the ten metre area with little purpose. The class and ability of Messrs Goudie and Fraser who continued to look for subtle chips, feints , and moves to fire their respective side into action, continually resulted in breakdowns elsewhere after the platform had been established by these two players. As we moved towards the interval, the home side did begin to put some lovely passing moves together as Messrs Kerr, MacFarlane, Drummond, Hughes and Lonergan moved menacingly into their opponent’s half. In a reset following stubborn and effective Highland defence, Max Macfarlane made inroads through the Highland pack only to be stopped near the visitor’s line. A penalty was awarded to GHA and Ruaridh Knott was yellow carded. The home side elected to scrummage and as the ball came out, a superb weave and dummy by Ben Curtis totally wrong-footed the Highland defence as he went over to the delight of GHA fans to score. Gregor Drummond in his fascinating, assured kicking style converted to make the score GHA 14 HIGHLAND 3.
Once again Highland came straight back at GHA and good work by Messrs Ratumaisese (a constant threat with his drives all match) and Carson forced the home side to concede a penalty for offside. A smashing kick by Scott Fraser made the score at half time: GHA 14 HIGHLAND 6.
It had been a disappointing half, both sides just could not get into any rhythm and the constant conceding of penalties and other stoppages had made continuity very difficult throughout. Both sides had tried to overcome this but found defences on top. The GHA back line defence of Drummond, Little, Lonergan, MacFarlane and Hughes along with Goudie and Curtis was deeply effective and very impressive and constantly provided a fillip to the forwards to go again. All hoped for much better fare in the second half and greater continuity of play.
GHA kicked off the second half and Glen Little superbly gathered the kick, and the GHA side began to move in earnest into the Highland half. A lovely interchange between Andrew Goudie and Gregor Drummond tore through the visitors defence and when stopped, the home team recycled and excellent ball work stretched the Highland defence to allow Max MacFarlane to drive his way through to score. Once again Gregor Drummond produced a kick of precision to make the score after forty-two minutes: GHA 19 HIGHLAND 6.
The home side had shown in these early minutes a determination to put their highly impressive whole team plan together. Backs and forwards look to interchange and make yardage at all times, protecting possession of the ball. The outstanding Andrew Goudie who is at the centre of much of the GHA probings, leanings and moves every week was clearly not prepared to accept the disappointing fare of the first half. Highland suddenly found themselves playing a committed and determined side who were finding their rhythm and looking much more confident. Despite this, Highland equally were not prepared to accept this situation without a fight. The visitors remained dangerous with ball in hand on the break and it was to be a very hardworking attacking and defensive shift for the home side throughout the half. The pace of the match had increased and both sides seemed to feel more comfortable moving forward. A lovely mis-move inside the Highland half just failed to be a success but from a resulting scrum the home side drove the Highland pack right back and forced them to concede a penalty. GHA took the penalty very quickly and as they moved the ball through startled Highland ranks, Scott Plumridge (whose work rate and key ball winning talent is impressive week after week) was able to go over in the forty-fifth minute to score. Gregor Drummond added the conversion points, and the score was now: GHA 28 HIGHLAND 6.
The home side were now playing with rhythm and confidence and Andrew Goudie-inspired back line moves were thrilling and causing huge problems for the visitors who were continually forced into desperate last line defensive tackles. Highland bravely tried to work their way out of this pressure but found a determined and accurate GHA blanket defence nullifying some good approach work. As we passed the fiftieth minute hectic attack and counterattack by both sides was thrilling to watch but tended to end in frustration for both sides as balls went loose or knock-ons blunted initiatives. GHA found themselves in a scrum on the Highland five metre line, but the visitors defended superbly and relieved the pressure with a clearance kick up to halfway. From the lineout, GHA hatched a move where the ball was deftly punted into space behind the Highland backs, forcing the visitors to scramble under pressure to clear. From the visitor’s ten metre line, having secured quality lineout ball, the home side led by Andrew Goudie moved into contact as Highland struggled to hold GHA. Several quite outstanding dummies by Andrew Goudie tied several opponents in knots as he flew through their lines and allowed him to make a lovely pass to Glen Little who went over to score. The try was converted, and the score was now GHA 35 HIGHLAND 6 after sixty-five minutes.
The whole move was warmly received by the home support who were now watching the standard of rugby GHA have produced all season. Highland still refused to meekly accept the situation, and the home side had to ensure that first time tackles were successful as the visitors tried to move the ball into the GHA half at speed. In a rather silly moment of indiscipline the home side was penalised twice for back chat made after the award of a penalty to Highland which took play up to halfway. However, the home side were able to gather the kick and Charlie Lonergan made an opportune kick through the Highland ranks and gave chase and Highland just managed to clear the danger. After another stoppage, GHA won possession as we passed the sixty sixth minute and lovely link work by Messrs Hay, Kerr, Drummond, McCutcheon and Little tore through the Highland lines. This excellent period of play was brought to an end by defensive work by Highland and in a melee at this stage both Gregor Drummond and Seumas Ross were yellow carded for an altercation.
Despite this GHA were determined to maintain their dominance in the match and tremendous tackling by Messrs MacFarlane, Hay and Collins reinforced the ability of GHA to blunt strikes at their rearguard by the very hardworking Highland side. As if to test the accuracy of this assumption, forceful forward work far into the GHA half allowed Calum MacPherson to smash his way through to score. The try was converted and the score after seventy-three minutes was: GHA 35 HIGHLAND 13.
Stung by this reversal the home side fashioned a move inside the Highland half and pressured the visitors to concede a penalty inside their five metre area. The ball was moved very quickly to allow Scott Derrick to score. The try was converted, and the final score was GHA 42 HIGHLAND 13.
The home side took a while to find their rhythm and had to overcome the stop start nature of much of the first half. Once they found their consistency, they produced some impressive rugby and finished the match strongly. Highland worked very hard all afternoon but struggled to match GHA once they had found their rhythm. Head Coach Calum was delighted to see the squad back in the groove after several weeks of inactivity on match days.
HIGHLAND RFC: J.BLAIR F.RIACH D.CORR S.ROSS M.HENRY S.FRASER H.CRUSH C.CARSON G.GREGOR R.KNOTT C.MacPHERSON O.McDONALD P.RATUMAISESE K.BROWN S.MURRAY J.MILTON S.D.PEDERSEN R.DINNES C.GRANT R.MacDONALD
GHA RFC: G. DRUMMOND G.LITTLE C.LONERGAN M.MacFARLANE M.HUGHES A.GOUDIE B.CURTIS L.HODGE R.CAMPBELL M.FOX A.KERR S.CALLAGHAN S.PLUMRIDGE J.McENTEGART L.McCUTCHEON L.BARRON S.COLLINS R.HAY G.BAIRD S.DERRICK
REFEREE MR R DARROCH
ASSISTANT REFEREES: MR S BICKNELL Ms G FREW
DETAILS OF OFFICIALS PROVIDED BY MR I ROBIN
