With President Dunipace being whisked off to some far flung exotic destination by Old Anniesland’s first lady (not sure if it’s The Maldives or Millport) and consequently deserting his reporting duties it was left to a mere hack to put together some notes on today’s proceedings at Old Anniesland.

Having been fortunate enough to have taken in part of last night’s tightly contested battle of the Glasgow Unis (a one point win for the Strathclyde played before a large and enthusiastic crowd in a game hosted by GHK at Balgray) and the entirety of Glasgow’s splendid win over the Munstermen, your scribe can lay claim to having seen three high quality matches in twenty four hours, with this one perhaps not matching the previous evenings offerings for intensity (the Unis really took it to each other) or outright rugby skills (Glasgow played some top class stuff) but it certainly did not disappoint in terms of endeavour or, indeed, in well worked tries with no fewer than nine being shared between the teams. GHK edged this by five to four and therefore probably deserved the win even if the eventual margin of victory perhaps flattered them slightly.

With the main pitch out of action for the foreseeable future, the match was played on a back pitch at OA – Pitch 4 to be exact – but the surface was better than most main pitches seen elsewhere, a tribute to the groundstaff at OA. One feature of the pitch, namely its shorter dead ball area was, however, to play an important part in the unfolding of the match but more of that later.

GHK kicked off with a reasonably strong breeze at their backs but, in a manner analogous to Glasgow’s style, they often chose to handle their way out of trouble rather than take the apparently easier option of kicking for position. This tactic did seem, to at least some of the touchline cognoscenti, to be overused at times but there was no denying its effectiveness early on as Rory Taylor, restored to the side at outside centre, finished off a good handling move to give the home aside an early lead with the conversion slotted by stand- off Danny Campbell. Whilst not quite matching Finn Russell’s previous evening’s perfect performance from the tee, there’s no doubt that Danny’s contribution of 15 points from a tally of three conversions and three penalties was hugely influential in deciding the outcome of the match, notwithstanding his key role in a many of GHK’s best moments including a try of his own.

Shortly after scoring their opening try GHK were awarded a penalty and took the sensible option of keeping the scoreboard ticking over to take the score to 10 – 0. At this stage Lasswade started to come much more into the game with their pack achieving early dominance in the scrums and direct running from their backs cutting holes in the normally solid GHK defence. Their first try came from that old favourite a line out catch and drive. This was quickly followed by a more expansive effort as their outside centre set off on a long diagonal run taking him over wide on the right. Unlike their first try this was converted to take the visitors into a narrow 12-10 lead mid-way through the half. With Lasswade now in the ascendancy it seemed only a matter of time before they scored again and it looked as if they had when their squat hooker sailed over only to keep going over the dead ball line as he attempted to make the conversion easier. A costly error indeed which was soon compounded when Lasswade in trying to force another score misdirected a pass which was gleefully intercepted by GHk’s Taylor who was able to go over from inside his own half and beat the last defender with a neat step. Duly converted for a narrow 17-12 half time lead that didn’t, to some on the touchline (okay me included), feel like quite enough with which to face the breeze.

However, with kicking no longer a profitable option, GHK proceeded to start the second period with even more ambition and were quickly rewarded with a penalty in kickable range for Danny Campbell. Even better was to follow with GHK handling from deep in their own twenty-two all the way to the try line with Mark Smyth (apologies for the garbled spelling of your surname in the match Twitter Feed, Mark!) finishing off with a bullocking run – due reward for the prop who carried well throughout. 27-10 and GHK beginning to look like comfortable winners with only the try bonus point seeming to be at stake. It nearly came when Messrs Hanks and Hurn, who both had storming games,combined to create a good chance only for GHK to be penalised – a not too infrequent turn of events.

Back came ‘The Mighty Swade’ with only a great line out steal from home captain Hugh Parker repelling one attack before the visitors managed two tries in quick succession. Momentum – in modern parlance ‘The Big Mo’ I understand, was well and truly with the visitors with 10 minutes still remaining and only six points separating the teams.

It was about this time that the dead ball line again came into play with home full back Blair Forsyth allowing a kick to roll, in his view, beyond it, which would have resulted in a scrum to GHK close to half way. Instead a twenty-two drop out was awarded keeping the pressure on GHK.

Just as the home support’s collective nerves were becoming ever more frayed, more ambitious handling from deep, this time featuring a great run and offload from home centre Cammy Hughes to that man Campbell resulted in GHK’s bonus point try and allowed the home crowd to relax somewhat. 35-24 with little time left – enough, however, for GHK’s speedy centre Taylor to complete his hat trick with a long diagonal run of his own. 40-24 final score with Lasswade having to content themselves with a four try bonus point for all their efforts.

Much for GHK to be pleased with – the effort and levels of fitness; the ambition shown throughout with plenty of skilful handling; and periods of tenacious defence. Plenty also for the coaches to work on with a few defensive lapses and a high penalty count being a couple of likely areas for attention.

For GHK the whole pack put in a good shift with every individual involved in handling well in attack and defending when required. A notable contribution from hooker Alec McGuire who had played no small part in Strathclyde’s victory the previous evening – rest day tomorrow, Alec! Another fine display from scrum half Rory Cook in his last game before departing for his sojourn in London town. Haste ye back, Rory!

Much like Glasgow’s game our own 10 Danny Campbell, stamped his class on the game, ably assisted by those outside him, especially hat trick man Taylor. Danny, therefore, shades it as GHK’s Man of the Match for this week.

Next week it’s back on the road as GHK head to the Kingdom of Fife to take on Kirkcaldy. As always, a large travelling support would be much appreciated and a warm welcome back will be accorded to President Dunipace!