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Bt Cellnet Cup –of Woe?

Published on 29 October 2006 at 09:10:00

 

Moffat 11 Strathclyde University 22

Bt Cellnet Cup -Of Woe?

  On the day that everyone gets ready for turning the clocks back by an hour, the Rams turned their Chronometer back by a week.

 In an uncanny example of ‘Déjà vu' the Moffat side repeated the heroics of the previous weekend by spending eighty minutes tramping about in the mud, tackling heroically and being on the wrong end of a semi-drubbing by a better drilled side from Glasgow.

  Once again the margin between defeat and victory was a narrow one and hinged on the opposition being more able to use their possession to advantage, while the Rams also committed the rugby equivalent of Hari Kari or ‘Death by a Thousand Penalties!

 So ended the longest cup run in the history of the Club with the opportunity of a home league fixture next weekend being the ideal chance to put right the setbacks of the last two outings.

  The game started brightly for the Rams who, spurred on by a crowd of over 100 people (yes we counted them!), withstood an early onslaught by the men from Academia and having missed one early penalty took a 3-0 lead from the boot of Kevin Jack.

 Even by this stage Moffat had begun the process of working their way through the full gambit of penalty offences as they gifted their visitors possession with numerous transgressions of the laws of the game. (Note to M Hawthorn.)

 By the end of the day we had seen foot up, in squint, failure to roll away, holding on, in front of the kicker and Kenny Carter was fortunate only to see yellow as he put in a convincing impersonation of Joe Calzaghe to earn himself ten minutes rest.

  The Rams rung the changes for this game starting with the heavily gelled Graham Gemmill at full back partnered by Davy Scott and Gordon Dinwoodie on the wings. The starting centres saw a blend of the silky smooth skills of Kevin Jack and the direct and abrasive Clint Smith.

  The initial link between backs and forwards saw Liam Ogilvie and Michael Lockhart in action again with the former scoring Moffats only try of the day to put the Rams ahead after they had gifted the Students a soft converted try with some sloppy possession on their own line.

  A recast Moffat pack saw the return of Kenny Chicken at prop after an absence of some 18 months. The ever-improving Craig Currie supported the whirling dervish that is hooker, Scott Galloway on the other side.

 An unchanged engine room saw Skipper Jamie McDowall and partner in crime Alan Tyler putting in some sterling work and the home breakaway trio comprised Matt Wennington flanked by the tenacious Alex Jefferson and the pugilistic Carter.

 Half -time arrived following a fruitless period of Strathclyde pressure and at 8-7 ahead the Rams were just about worth their lead. 

 Somewhat ominously a large blue and red helicopter interrupted the proceedings, circling overhead like a large vulture, perhaps sensing some carrion was about to become available.

 This proved to be the case. The half time tutorial benefited the visitors as their analysis of the first half identified a chink in the Rams armour. A well drilled and executed rolling maul saw the unlikely out-muscling of the home pack and the resultant try put Moffat four points adrift as the conversion fell wide.

 The donation of a penalty from yet another offside by the Rams saw this stretched by a further three and the initiative was lost.

 Some good Moffat pressure yielded a penalty, which Kevin Jack dispatched to momentarily close the gap.

 Changes a plenty from the home coaches saw the introduction of Bob Drennan, Mattie Kerr and Graham McGregor as various permutations were used to try and get back on the offensive.

  However another effective rolling maul from the Glasgow side saw the score finish at 11-22 with the Students certainly worth their win but with plenty of positive signs for the Rams coaching team to build on.

  Despite trailing for most of the second half the Rams finished with a flourish and some abrasive forward play saw Scott Galloway, Alan Tyler and Jamie McDowall applying some serious pressure which but for a spilt pass could have seen Craig Currie thunder over for what would have been a deserved counter.

  Probably the best way to summarise up the day is that the Moffat team did not add up to the sum of its parts. Some great individual effort and performance just failed to achieve the consistency and cohesion required to produce an end result.

  One day the arrival of joined up rugby will give the Rams just reward for the tireless and courageous performances of late.

 Perhaps the home league fixture against Shawlands next weekend will see a more rewarding result and will provide a suitable springboard for the Club Dinner, at which certain members may take wine with the President, and for the rest of the season.

 Finally a huge thanks to the local support whose numbers and enthusiasm are as good an indication of the progress being made by the team as anything. Remember the earlier kick off time next week as the polar ice cap descends.