GHA RFC MATCH 249: AYR RFC 33 – 0 GHA RFC 

2012/2013: West Cup – Group A

AYR RFC 

 GHA RFC

G. Anderson15H. O’Hare
C. Gossman14R. Jericevich
R. Ferguson13J. Brogan
R. Dalgleish12A. Henderson (c)
C. Taylor11G. Adams
F. Russell10D. Dunn
S. Diez9A. Gillman
B. Schmidt1S. Spowart
D. Young2J. Malcolm
D. Mutamangira3M. Kidd
N. Campbell4R. Glen
C. White5J. Auld
P. McCallum6D. Malcolm
A. Dunlop7P. Harkins
G. Fisken8G. MacDonald
H. Wisnewski16S. Carson
S. Kerr17S. Gallacher
S. Izpork18R. Jenkins
P. Jericevich19C. Binnie
D. McCluskey20S. Lang
Diez, Ferguson, Gossman, Jericevich, McCallum, WhiteTry
Con
RussellPen
DG
Referee
Mr A. Ireland (SRU)

 

GHA entered the game as huge underdogs but for much of this encounter they held their own against a classy Ayr outfit whose size and pace was the difference in the end, capitalising on GHA turn overs and the odd loose kick to seal a comfortable victory which sees them go top of GHA’s group in this season’s RBS Cup.

It had been well publicised in the build up that Ayr’s pitch had suffered the effects of the recent rainfall and those rumours proved true as the sticky underfoot conditions prevented both sides from playing with much ambition on the day. The loss of scrum half Andrew Gillman due to illness was also significant as GHA’s attack struggled for continuity all afternoon.

Despite giving away a significant weight advantage to the Ayr pack, GHA were solid in the close exchanges, the scrum held firm and indeed drove Ayr off the ball in the closing minutes. The lineout was as good as it’s been all season. GHA’s undoing was their failure to hold on to the ball for prolonged periods often having to commit a lot of numbers to the breakdown, and when the turnovers came, Ayr were quick to move the ball wide where their ever dangerous back three, particularly the diminutive Craig Gossman, had lot’s of space to work in with Gossman scoring one try and setting up numerous Ayr attacks.

In the end, Ayr ran in 6 scores but GHA can be pleased with their overall effort, especially physically which is one of the key areas where you’d expect a Premiership side like Ayr to dominate. Also encouraging was the fact that 7 GHA Academy players got their first taste of Premiership rugby, 5 of whom are still in their teens, giving them valuable experience as they continue their development.

Head Coach Gordon MacPherson feels the team will have learnt a lot from their performance against a Premier Division team. He said:

“It was obviously not good enough to cause Ayr the problems we would have liked to. Considering they are the best team in Scotland I think we acquitted ourselves quite well in a lot of areas in the game. Especially set piece, line outs went well and the scrum worked well as we managed to push them back on a couple of occasions. They gave us very little space to play in which was probably one of the key factors. When we had possession we didn’t have the time that we have when we play in the third division. When we had the ball it was important to keep the ball and not give it away cheaply because when we did do that we got punished. Overall though there were a lot of positives despite the outcome of the game.”

Next week, GHA host National League side Hillhead/Jordanhill at Braidholm. This will be another tough test for GHA against a team from the division above. Kick Off is 1pm.

Source: David Coates

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