|
 Broughton
recorded a well deserved bonus point 29-17 victory over Hawick Linden
at Wardie on Saturday with nearly 21 year old Adam McFarlane grabbing
the Man of the Match honours with his 2 try performance.
It was 29-0 to Broughton on the hour and
despite a spirited comeback by the tourists, it was too little too
late. The victory allowed Broughton to leapfrog North Berwick to move
into 4th place, one place and one point behind our next opponents
Dunbar who we face in the Cup next week then the league 7 days later.
Heavy rain in the Capital over the
previous 48 hours made the Wardie playing surface a heavy one and with
the rain rejoining the players for the start of this clash, it was
Broughton who capitalised on the wet conditions from the kick off.
With merely a minute on the clock, Dan Arrandale put a neat kick into
the Linden '22' before being crudely taken out. The referee
failed to pick up on this but heavy pressure from the chasing cavalry
resulted in the clearing kick being charged down into the path of
Johnny Else who ran in for the opening score. Matthews was
unable to add the extras. 5-0.
5 minutes later and Broughton were once
again camped within the Linden 22 forcing the visiting defence to come
out the blocks too quick resulting in the first of several penalties
to be awarded by the match official. Matthews let Linden off the
hook by pulling the kick wide of the uprights.
With Broughton experiencing high levels
of completed phases of play, something that Head Coach Graham Bonnar
had bemoaned of his players at Dalkeith the week earlier, something
had to give. And give it did on the 23rd minute. The
Broughton pack, potentially anything up to a stone a man heavier,
drove up the Wardie Slope to set up a platform for Else who in turn
set Chris O'Neill on the rampage leaving a trail of destruction behind
him before drawing the full back in enough to release Melvin 'The
Comeback Kid' Hart who duly obliged with a try out wide. 10-0.
The complexion of the game could have
changed if Linden had scored on the half-time whistle. A Linden
back forced the ball towards the posts soccer style following a tussle
inside the Broughton 22 however, it was Man of the Match McFarlane who
won the 1-on-1 race to get downward pressure on the ball in the
deadball area to thwart any danger. Half-time 10-0.
It was a real sense of deja-vu at the
restart with Arrandale producing a text-book Garry Owen kick, which on
a December day may have landed with snow on it, and the full back
knocked on. The referee applied the advantage rule with
Broughton on the ascendancy however centre Prem
Hirubalm knocked on.
The third try was merely minutes away
and it came in some style. The aforementioned sizeable Broughton
pack set off on a rampaging running, never mind rolling, maul and
after gaining some 30 metres were adjudged to have been held up just
inches off the whitewash. From the resultant scrum, Adam
McFarlane picked up from the base of the scrum to rumble over from
5 metres out. Dan Arrandale converted to make it 17-0.
A
Hirubalm break on 57 minutes from a Matthews offload looked as if it was
going to reward the young Singaporean Internationalist a try but he
was denied just short of the line. The ruck was formed in front
of the posts and the ball came out to Sean 'Stan' Smith who,
despite looking stiffer than a whisky poured at the home of
Charles Kennedy, bundled over the line. Arrandale kicked the
extras. 24-0.
The floodgates looked as if they were
joining the sky in opening 6 minutes later when McFarlane
breached the visitors defence for a second time from a carbon copy of
his early try. A 'scrum five' was awarded to the home side after
Broughton applied tremendous pressure forcing Linden to touch down
behind their own try line. 29-0.
Game over? Well, the body and oral
language of the Hawick Linden players behind their posts as they
awaited Arrandale's unsuccessful conversion attempt certainly made one
think so. However, a chance for them to salvage some pride was
turned into points with consummate ease on 63 minutes. A cross
field kicked manufactured out of more speculation rather than anything
else, allowed the winger to run in for what looked like nothing more
that a consolation score. 29-5.
The final ten minutes put Broughton on
edge as they started with the loss of another try. Attacking the
Linden line with perhaps a touch of try fever, the ball was kicked
down the throat of the pint-sized full back who waltzed his way
through the bulk of the home defence which was caught still running
back up the hill from the attack. 29-10.
Worse was to follow 3 minutes from time
when a once comfortable winning margin was shrunk further after
possession was cheaply given away which allowed another of the young
Linden backs (average age 22) to run in unopposed under the posts
which was converted. 29-17.
Broughton saw out the final few minutes
without any further concerns and recorded a much needed and deserved
victory.
 Other than the Man of
the Match Award on Saturday, there was another Unofficial Award for
the Dick of the Day.
This went to Ricky Hough who managed to
put the wrong key into the Changing Room lock and completely knackered
it.
|
