Glasgow Accies v Melrose

16/03/2024

Glasgow Accies v Melrose

The final national 1 match for both teams, and the whole league, was played on a bright and sunny day with a mid-day kick off to accommodate the Guinness 6-Nations “Super Saturday”. At 7 minutes, having played into Accies half, a series of penalties saw Stewart Black break away from a lineout off-loading to Ruairidh Hood who scored in the corner with Adam Scott adding the extras. With 21 minutes played, following pressure on the Accies line and a penalty, a strong break by Roly Brett saw him helped over the line for an unconverted try. On 34 minutes Brett put in a cute chip through and with a kind bounce and some silky footwork by Matty Bertram the winger touched down for an unconverted try in the corner. Just on the break Accies exhibited some fantastically expansive play with a crash ball try scored with Scott converting.

Half time- Glasgow Accies 14 Melrose 10

Melrose put in a period of sustained pressure to start the second half and having been camped on the Accies line for five minutes the ball was eventually passed wide to Paddy Anderson who beat his man on the outside to score an unconverted try. Five minutes later Thomas Brown was sin-binned for a high tackle. With a succession of penalties from a dominant scrum the outcome, at 65 minutes, was an Accies try converted by Scott. From the kick-off Melrose exerted pressure with Accies giving away penalties and, eventually, Douglas Crawford scrambling over to score and convert the Melrose bonus point try. There then followed a breathless ten minutes of rugby to score or prevent any further try and witness a “confetti” of yellow cards for, at 71 minutes, Harry Makowski for a deliberate knock on, at 73 minutes Guy Davis for a high tackle and at 79 minutes Andrew Bradfield for a tip-tackle. And after all that Accies squeezed into the corner for their unconverted bonus point try, the failed conversion ending the match. So near and yet so far for a Melrose team short of some senior players, especially the regular goal-kicker.

Glasgow Accies 26 Melrose 22.

Glasgow Accies – Ross Cowan, Ruairidh Hood, Gregor Macewen, Adam Ryan, James Smith, Adam Scott, Stewart Black, Stewart Carr, Mark Ashdown, Guy Davis, Lawrence Campbell, Max Hutcheon, Scott Simmons, Harry Briggs, Declan Papadakis. Replacements – Dominik Grzymkowski, Philip Farren, Lewis Collier, Jack McCready, Rory McGinn.

Melrose – Keiran Clark, Harry Makowski, Elliot Ruthven, Paddy Anderson, Matty Bertram, Roly Brett, Douglas Crawford, Will Owen, Logan Kirk, Andrew Kirk, Thomas Brown, Angus Runciman, Ruairidh Lindsay, Will Ferrie, Lachlan Gaddie. Replacements – Robbie Robinson, Ali Renton, Seb van der Sluis, Archie Pilcher, Andrew Bradfield.

Melrose Man of the Match - Doug Crawford

Thanks to Malcolm Changleng for match day photos.