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Ambulance or Team
Bus? It was a close call...
Broughton earned an unwanted hat-trick of
consecutive League defeats at the weekend, eventually losing 29-07 to top
jockeys Dumfries, despite taking the lead at the end of the 1st quarter of
the game.
If truth be told, it was a remarkable
achievement to field a side this week. With the webmaster's phone
somewhat akin to an NHS 24 Helpline, the list of the sick and injured at one
stage out-weighed the actual playing numbers!
Not available this week: Dan Arrandale (Knee),
Chris Mowbray (Ankle), Andy Turtle (Holiday!), Paul Maddison (?), Lloyd
Baxter (Mummy & Daddy visiting), Jamie Fraser (Shoulder), Hamish Martineau
(Mouth), Chris Koo (Working), Robert 'Bombhead' Malcolm (Broken Beak!), Mark
Clews (Knackered), Ricky Hough (Holiday).
(R)Andy Turtle was on holiday this week..
On the playing side, Mark Brown and Melvin
Hart were carrying colds, Kerry Sargeant played with a sore back and Gareth
Payne still hadn't recovered from his bruised sternum.
So, to the game itself. Well, nearly!
The bus departed the Club at 11am and all was fine and dandy until we went
through who was playing etc. Picture the scene: Sid "Front Row, Joe
Edwards, Donald Pyper, Duncan Nicolson.." Fellow bus travellers "Donald?,
erm he isn't on the bus!". We were on Lothian Road and without a
hooker. Laughter turned to despair for all as Mark Brown looked like
he was having to come off the bench for his first full match of the season.
Frantic phone calls were made and Stan, who
was making his way directly to the match, managed to get in touch with the
'still in his bed' Pyper!
The match kicked off and it was clear from the
outset that the short but wide pitch was likely to be a major factor in
deciding the outcome of the match.
Dumfries, who had a 100% record so far this
season, attempted to utilise the wind advantage which was blowing towards
the stand, but it was the Edinburgh tourists who took a deserved, if
somewhat controversial, lead.
BATS stand-off Mark Ward, playing for the
Broughton side under the Club Association rule, forced a kick deep into the
home '22' and the home defender mis-judged the bounce which allowed Ward to
kick it through and Ben Skykes dropped on the ball in the corner.
Whether or not it was in or outside the field of play was the debate in the
stand, but match official from Glasgow (Dan Arrandale reliably informs that
he went to school with the Ref's sister!) gave the score. Gareth Payne
converted for a 0-7 lead.
After losing Payne midway through the 1st half
through injury, Broughton's injury woes continued with the loss of Doug
McClure after a head knock.
The Home side dealt Broughton a double-whammy
in the final 10 minutes of the half, with 2 unconverted scores. The
first came from a quickly taken penalty by the Dumfries forwards who rumbled
over and the second after a series of missed tackles allowed the league
leaders to go in unchallenged. Half-Time 10-07.
As if it couldn't get any worse for Broughton,
the match official sent Grant Wilson for a 10 minute break for persistent
infringements at the ruck. This was to be his last involvement of the
game as he was replaced by Mark Brown. Maybe a poll could be run as to
what was the most embarrassing of the two statements there - Binned or
replaced by me!
The scoreboard
confirmed the ref's decision on Wilson
From there, the visitors had lost their shape
and Dumfries picked up their 3rd try on 62 minutes with a forwards rumble to
make it 15-7.
The bonus point was inevitable and this
happened after I had entered the field of play so the rest of the report
kind of ends here unless we get some help from the Dumfries website!
Final Score Dumfries 29 - 7 Broughton
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