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Strabane II 0 - 6 Enniskillen IV | Tue 20th Nov 2007 | | Team: - John G, JK, Les, Lee, Bert, Stuarty, Adam, David, Murdock, Clive, Chris, Warney, John H, Andy B, Craig. Subs, Gareth C, Mark, David.
Well revenge was on the table after the skins had bent the rules, stacked the team and beat us on their home turf. The table was set, the men where hungry and the day was cold so everything was shaping up for a great encounter. The skins team arrived on the pitch and it was barely recongisable (the back line anyway) from the team we had met a few weeks previously. The strabane outfit looked sharp with a few new caps and a few old warriors coming out for a hurrah on the pitch.
Things started well on the pitch with Strabane withstanding a few moments of early pressure from the skins until we settled down and began to take control. The strabane pack was working well and winning ball however the sharpness and alertness of the skins spritely, for 50, scrumhalf kept the pressure on so it wasnt always clean won ball with Bert getting wrapped up most times he tried to pick up. When clean ball was won the Strabane back line just wasnt firing on all cylinders and possession wasnt turned into points or territory. The skins had started giving the ref back chat and the decisions where going our way and we kept sustained pressure on the skins 22 with nothing happening. Eventually a penalty was given away within Housty's range and he went for it. The posts looked scared at one stage but they had nothing to worry about as the ball sailed marginally wide so it was the skins kick off. Their kicker on the day was a gaelic man with great range but little accuracy and he got the ball back into strabane hands. Forward momentum and some passing saw us pressurise the skin line again however the ref decided that the ball had been knocked forward on the ground short of the line. In the following several scrums the skins prop must have annoyed John as he came up pointing and calling him a naughty boy and other outbursts which the ref didnt like so Strabane where marched back 10 Yards.
This is the way the match went from then on. Good attacking pressure from Strabane saw the possession wasted by bickering amonst the players and bad decision making. Rarely was the ball thrown out wide where Strabane had the beating of the inexperienced skins back line and strabane had the pace with firstly Chris and Andy Brown and then after half time with David and myself. Mention must also go to David Gilfillin and Adam Cummins who made strong driving runs and crunching tackles when chasing kicks. Craig played well in full back with good up and under kicks and got his own ball back several times. This panicked the skins somewhat as they had no answer to the strabane kicks and chases and where at a loss when running back. However this weakness wasnt to be taken advantage of with the ref first not giving an automatic yellow card for playing a man off the ball and stopping him chasing the kick and then not allowing the quick tap due to not being in front of him the first time, then the second time saying that the strabane player wasnt back far enough in front of him and marched another 3 yards backwards!!! Unfortunately this all became far too much for honest Davy. Anybody who regularly attends training will know that Davy likes to put his point of view across when it comes to touches and quick takes and penalties etc however, the ref hadnt been to our training and didnt appreciate this so Strabane where constantly being blown for stupid penalties and then marched back everytime for back chat. This totally demoralised the team and the last section of free flowing strabane play was stopped by the ref for an alledged forward pass which we all think the ref couldnt see as he was so far behind play taking the motability scooter up the pitch that he couldnt have saw it in a million years. Strabane had 2 men overlap on the wing at this time and field position or even a try was inevitable.
The long and the short of it was housty missed 3 kicks, the skins didnt and the match finished 0-6 when a win for the home side should have been the only result. Next match is Limavady at the grammar school which should be a better display of fine flowing rugby |
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