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A game too far, not enough people down at training
during the week, a lot of good effort but no shining stars, lady luck
had stayed in Edinburgh, no base for the backs as the forward catch and
drive wasn’t firing on all cylinders, poor referring decisions against
us.
Take your pick of excuses and with several pints of
beer sat inside you it’s possible to come up with a million and one
ideas to win the match if it was possible to rewind the fun, however
the bottom line on the day was that the team in the higher division
where a little fitter and better drilled and it showed with a 24 - 12
defeat when the referee blew his final whistle.
With maybe an eye on next week as the title decider
approaches Broughton made the 2.5 hour road trip to Ardrossan
Academicals to face the National 1 team in the BT Bowl competition.
With a sun drenched day and both sides in the top 3 of their respective
leagues it was set for a day of fast and flowing rugby and seeing one
side progress to a final at Murrayfield and a free bar whilst the other
would have to look back on getting so near and yet so far.
Broughton kicked off the match and following a charge
down kick after almost the second ruck of the game saw the bounce almost
take the ball into the hands of a Broughton player for a try but instead
went into the hands of an Ardrossan back who was caught in his own goal.
This allowed Broughton an early chance with a 5 metre scrum which
following several passes saw Ardrossan caught offside and allowed Alex
Guest to kick one of his four penalties that afternoon to put Broughton
into an early 0 - 3 lead.
After that the game was fairly even and uneventful
with both sides trying their best to break each other down and due to
the extra fitness Ardrossan had saw they receive several penalties which
where successfully kicked and in following a very effective driving maul
that worked all game found space in the top left corner for a player to
break away over the final ten metres and score giving them a half time
lead of 16 - 6.
In the second half a revival by Broughton was helped
when the match official supported by professional lines men spotted the
Ardrossan number 4 stamping on a Broughton player in a ruck and in turn
lead to ten minutes in the sin bin , however although a long period was
spent in the Ardrossan half and the line was close on a number of
occasions stubborn defense from the fourteen Ardrossan players kept the
all star back line in check and left the pack chasing shadows as they
where asked to support and support in rucks and mauls all over the park.
This challenge was made even harder when Gareth Payne was forced to
leave the field of play due to damage to his left knee.
Then encouraged by the return of their player
Ardrossan turned the screw with some big driving mauls and following
long pressure in the Broughton saw there number eight who had made
several strong runs all day get the ball five metres out and get past
the attention of several Broughton players to score in the bottom right
hand corner, thus with several more penalties exchanged between the
kickers the score steadily grew to the final score line of 24 -12.
As I mentioned at the start of the piece it appeared
from my position on the park that the game was settled due to the
fitness of Ardrossan to get to the break down a little quicker and
support each other that little bit more than any one person or team on
the pitch dominating the game. This was also reflected by the fact a
team four leagues above Broughton where only two tries ahead in the
final points calculation and following Lasswade having this week off
should steel Broughton’s determination to go for glory and win the
league next week. As I’ve said before all support will be welcome next
Saturday at 3pm at Wardie Playing Fields.
Special mention though must be given to Dan Arrandale
for creating the moment of the match when with ten minutes to go in the
match and following a late tackle from a ruck or basically some how that
Dan Arrandale ended up on the floor with an Ardrossan player, a petulant
elbow that would have struggled to break the skin on a rice pudding was
seen by the referee and saw Arrandale watch the final few minutes on the
side line follow a yellow card for unsporting conduct.
Many Broughton supporters where confused by the
reaction of Arrandale and it was a talking point in the bar later with
many reasons given inc:-
1. He was trying to relive the glory of the previous
week when following a scuffle he had later spent several hours in A + E
receiving three stitches in his chin and for the first time in his life
had lead to him looking like a rugby player.
2. He is becoming a raging tiger on the inside as
Naomi enters the remaining few months of pregnancy and his enforced
celibacy is starting to show on the outside.
3. He’s a bit of a tosser!
4. He’s a scrum half and deserved it.
5.Not being able to handle the jealousy he harbors
towards Melvyn Hart and having been on the rampage since Melvyn became
captain this season he has gone to further and further lengths to steal
Mel’s thunder. This started as a joke by stealing Hart’s rugby boots,
carrying on to get his own girlfriend pregnant so he could have a child
just like Mel’s , then whilst in a drunken rage maliciously injured his
former drinking buddies hand so that he can no longer play rugby or
masturbate this season due to nerve damage and due to this is jealous
that Mel has a bigger scar than his and was looking for ever opportunity
for somebody to punch him.
Any other ideas please drop them on a postcard or the
back of an envelope to the club titled Dan “Bunny Boiler/ Teddies out of
the Pram” Arrandale Ideas, the one with the best suggestion will
receive the opportunity to meet Dan and share a drink of their choice
and a pie with him after the Lasswade match on the 9th of
April. |
