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Another win for GHK
Hugh Barrow25 Jan 2015 - 12:58
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GHK March on
GHK v LENZIE 24 January 2015
Final Score GHK 64 Lenzie 3
A very convincing win for GHK in their latest encounter.
The score line is undeniably convincing, but this was a game between two sides that, as someone said, were quite evenly matched in everything but scoring. Lenzie have recorded some noteworthy results this season and on Saturday they produced a committed, organised and often threatening performance against league leading GHK.
However, as has been the case for most of this season, the home side gives very little away and has acquired the useful habit of scoring from range as well as when attacking from close to the opposition line. The ten try avalanche could not have been predicted in the early stages when it was indeed Lenzie that settled quickly in to their composed rhythm and put together some decent phases of play. It was not exactly against the run of play that Dave Mitchell opened the scoring, but it was the first occasion that GHK had possession in a dangerous area.
Lenzie replied and continued to play mature, positive rugby and tested the home defence. A penalty was their reward when GHK strayed offside. 7 – 3 after fifteen minutes.
There then followed a series of high quality scores from the home side. Scott Robertson was on hand to finish off, firstly, a stunning eighty metre break by Jamie McLean and then he was there again to do the needful after a sweeping move involving great hands and link up work from Rory Long and the Mikes, Aird and Martin. This was rugby that was a joy to watch but must have been oh so hard to play against. Three tries with about half an hour gone.
The final try of the half came about when a vigorous Lenzie attack was halted by way of some robust GHK defence on the home ten metre line. The loose ball was collected by skipper Pete Ritchie who demonstrated impressive pace and left the struggling defenders behind as he crossed for the vital fourth try with a few minutes of the first period remaining. A half time score of 26 – 3 in favour of GHK was probably a bit harsh on Lenzie in terms of possession, territory and the general flow of the game, but there was nothing fortuitous about the tries that the hosts had racked up.
Lewis Brock took the place of captain Ritchie at the start of the second half. There was some suggestion that he may have needed a wee lie down after his try scoring exertions. Anyway, the second period followed a similar pattern with Lenzie getting themselves into decent field positions only to be thwarted by committed defence and impressive tackling by GHK . Dave Mitchell added his second try of the match finishing off a neat move down the left wing. Not to be outdone by his departed second row partner, Nick Hurn chipped in with try number six, running in from twenty metres.
Having put in a huge effort for the eighty minutes last week and again today, front row stalwarts Johnston and Reid were given time off with half an hour to go being replaced by Ross McFarlane and Scott Cameron. Their first duties were of the defensive type as yet again Lenzie challenged for that try. However, the GHK hatches were well and truly battened down and the mean defence stood firm.
It was from a Lenzie attack that GHK scored again. From deep in the GHK twenty two Jamie McLean broke out as only Jamie McLean can. The ball passed through a few pairs of hands of the supporting runners with Mike Martin and Scott Robertson being the key man in this spectacular flowing move. The ball was dotted down by centre Martin and the sizeable crowd in the stand showed their appreciation for another cracking score. Jamie McLean then stole the show with try number eight taking turnover ball from a point about ten metres from the home try line and scything through anything that got in his way and bringing up the fifty points with a belter of a score under the posts. Further quality tries from Callum Pender, who had replaced the impressive Peter Moffitt, and Scott Robertson, to complete his hat-trick, concluded the scoring.
Full time GHK 64 Lenzie 3
With a personal haul of twenty nine points it was quite a day for Scott Robertson. For the first time in quite a while the scores were divided equally between forwards and backs. That has not been the case in recent weeks when the men up front have monopolised the try scoring.
There were several outstanding performances in another excellent squad effort. Andy McCulloch’s lung bursting supporting hundred metre run thankfully did not culminate in him having to handle the ball (as that might have been asking too much). However, it may have gone some way to convincing a potential sponsor to put her money on the front row – sensible girl.
I cannot imagine how hard it must be to play against Jamie McLean in this form. The same high level of performance as we witnessed at Newton Stewart. It really is like having an extra (and rather good) back row player. That is not to say that his back row colleagues were anonymous, far from it. They along with the other forwards took Jamie’s lead and delivered an intense eighty minute shift that was firing from first whistle to the end.
Centres Martin and Kinane kept Lenzie in several minds when it came to defence. They mixed it up beautifully with a combination of breaks, long passes and smart kicks. Stand off Rory Long called the shots well and took on the abrasive Lenzie back row on numerous occasions. Wingers Moffitt and Parkes, whilst not amongst the points today, contributed a great deal in defence and going forward. The fact that there was a lot of defending to do is testament to George Breckenridge’s side and their commitment, skill and fitness. I suspect they will win a number of games before this season is done.
As ever, a close call for man of the match, you could make out a case for virtually every member of the squad, but a decision is needed and for his point scoring with the boot and being in the right place, not once but three times, to claim his three tries, it goes to Scott Robertson.
So GHK’s good form continues. This week’s novel approach to training seems to have borne fruit. The squad does not actually train in the accepted sense of the term. It would appear to be enough for them to view on line the place where they might have trained. Our coaching team is clearly at the forefront of innovative methods to get the best out of the lads. This week it will back to the tried and tested virtual tackling working on the Thow/Gourley after you method first developed in the early 80’s.
After the demands of Newton Stewart our physio had a less than challenging day. But thanks, as ever to Gill for keeping the lads in working order. Our groundsman too deserves recognition for having the pitch at OA looking A1, especially after the ten days we have had. Well done Davey and many thanks indeed.
People come from wide and far to watch GHK these days and some go to great lengths to follow the boys. One of our furthest travelled stalwarts of recent seasons was there again yesterday when, amidst the tries, he revealed that he is writing a book about the civil war that took place in the Republic of Biafra, a state that existed from 1967 to 1970. Bet you didn’t know that. The hidden depths of the GHK supporter.
Next week – Helensburgh at OA
Final Score GHK 64 Lenzie 3
A very convincing win for GHK in their latest encounter.
The score line is undeniably convincing, but this was a game between two sides that, as someone said, were quite evenly matched in everything but scoring. Lenzie have recorded some noteworthy results this season and on Saturday they produced a committed, organised and often threatening performance against league leading GHK.
However, as has been the case for most of this season, the home side gives very little away and has acquired the useful habit of scoring from range as well as when attacking from close to the opposition line. The ten try avalanche could not have been predicted in the early stages when it was indeed Lenzie that settled quickly in to their composed rhythm and put together some decent phases of play. It was not exactly against the run of play that Dave Mitchell opened the scoring, but it was the first occasion that GHK had possession in a dangerous area.
Lenzie replied and continued to play mature, positive rugby and tested the home defence. A penalty was their reward when GHK strayed offside. 7 – 3 after fifteen minutes.
There then followed a series of high quality scores from the home side. Scott Robertson was on hand to finish off, firstly, a stunning eighty metre break by Jamie McLean and then he was there again to do the needful after a sweeping move involving great hands and link up work from Rory Long and the Mikes, Aird and Martin. This was rugby that was a joy to watch but must have been oh so hard to play against. Three tries with about half an hour gone.
The final try of the half came about when a vigorous Lenzie attack was halted by way of some robust GHK defence on the home ten metre line. The loose ball was collected by skipper Pete Ritchie who demonstrated impressive pace and left the struggling defenders behind as he crossed for the vital fourth try with a few minutes of the first period remaining. A half time score of 26 – 3 in favour of GHK was probably a bit harsh on Lenzie in terms of possession, territory and the general flow of the game, but there was nothing fortuitous about the tries that the hosts had racked up.
Lewis Brock took the place of captain Ritchie at the start of the second half. There was some suggestion that he may have needed a wee lie down after his try scoring exertions. Anyway, the second period followed a similar pattern with Lenzie getting themselves into decent field positions only to be thwarted by committed defence and impressive tackling by GHK . Dave Mitchell added his second try of the match finishing off a neat move down the left wing. Not to be outdone by his departed second row partner, Nick Hurn chipped in with try number six, running in from twenty metres.
Having put in a huge effort for the eighty minutes last week and again today, front row stalwarts Johnston and Reid were given time off with half an hour to go being replaced by Ross McFarlane and Scott Cameron. Their first duties were of the defensive type as yet again Lenzie challenged for that try. However, the GHK hatches were well and truly battened down and the mean defence stood firm.
It was from a Lenzie attack that GHK scored again. From deep in the GHK twenty two Jamie McLean broke out as only Jamie McLean can. The ball passed through a few pairs of hands of the supporting runners with Mike Martin and Scott Robertson being the key man in this spectacular flowing move. The ball was dotted down by centre Martin and the sizeable crowd in the stand showed their appreciation for another cracking score. Jamie McLean then stole the show with try number eight taking turnover ball from a point about ten metres from the home try line and scything through anything that got in his way and bringing up the fifty points with a belter of a score under the posts. Further quality tries from Callum Pender, who had replaced the impressive Peter Moffitt, and Scott Robertson, to complete his hat-trick, concluded the scoring.
Full time GHK 64 Lenzie 3
With a personal haul of twenty nine points it was quite a day for Scott Robertson. For the first time in quite a while the scores were divided equally between forwards and backs. That has not been the case in recent weeks when the men up front have monopolised the try scoring.
There were several outstanding performances in another excellent squad effort. Andy McCulloch’s lung bursting supporting hundred metre run thankfully did not culminate in him having to handle the ball (as that might have been asking too much). However, it may have gone some way to convincing a potential sponsor to put her money on the front row – sensible girl.
I cannot imagine how hard it must be to play against Jamie McLean in this form. The same high level of performance as we witnessed at Newton Stewart. It really is like having an extra (and rather good) back row player. That is not to say that his back row colleagues were anonymous, far from it. They along with the other forwards took Jamie’s lead and delivered an intense eighty minute shift that was firing from first whistle to the end.
Centres Martin and Kinane kept Lenzie in several minds when it came to defence. They mixed it up beautifully with a combination of breaks, long passes and smart kicks. Stand off Rory Long called the shots well and took on the abrasive Lenzie back row on numerous occasions. Wingers Moffitt and Parkes, whilst not amongst the points today, contributed a great deal in defence and going forward. The fact that there was a lot of defending to do is testament to George Breckenridge’s side and their commitment, skill and fitness. I suspect they will win a number of games before this season is done.
As ever, a close call for man of the match, you could make out a case for virtually every member of the squad, but a decision is needed and for his point scoring with the boot and being in the right place, not once but three times, to claim his three tries, it goes to Scott Robertson.
So GHK’s good form continues. This week’s novel approach to training seems to have borne fruit. The squad does not actually train in the accepted sense of the term. It would appear to be enough for them to view on line the place where they might have trained. Our coaching team is clearly at the forefront of innovative methods to get the best out of the lads. This week it will back to the tried and tested virtual tackling working on the Thow/Gourley after you method first developed in the early 80’s.
After the demands of Newton Stewart our physio had a less than challenging day. But thanks, as ever to Gill for keeping the lads in working order. Our groundsman too deserves recognition for having the pitch at OA looking A1, especially after the ten days we have had. Well done Davey and many thanks indeed.
People come from wide and far to watch GHK these days and some go to great lengths to follow the boys. One of our furthest travelled stalwarts of recent seasons was there again yesterday when, amidst the tries, he revealed that he is writing a book about the civil war that took place in the Republic of Biafra, a state that existed from 1967 to 1970. Bet you didn’t know that. The hidden depths of the GHK supporter.
Next week – Helensburgh at OA
Further reading