Dalziel continue quest for double

Feb 10 2010 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

Dalziel continue quest for double

DALZIEL Rugby Club maintained their quest for a league and cup double on Saturday after brushing aside Edinburgh University in the first round of the Scottish Hydro Shield at Dalziel Park.

Robert Simpson racked up 17 points for the home side, scoring two tries and kicking two conversions and a penalty.

Dalziel started the game with plenty of possession but the back division made a number of early handling errors.

This allowed the Edinburgh students to get into the game and the visitors would have opened the scoring if Crawford Reid and Kris Watters had not been stubborn in their defensive duties.

Dalziel began to play better rugby and after a good forward drive in 15 minutes the ball was passed out the line and John Harris had a clean run to score under the posts.

The conversion by Robert Simpson took the scoreline to 7-0 and a further Simpson penalty saw the unbeaten National League Division One leaders move further ahead.

The capital side responded with a penalty but the home side put daylight between the sides before the break.

After a good blind side move, the ball was passed to Simpson who arrived from deep and he crossed the line to claim his first try of the afternoon giving Dalziel a 15-3 lead at the interval.

The first 10 minutes of the second half saw both sides have periods of possession and territory.

But in the 60th minute Dalziel took a scrum against the head and from the turnover ball Ross McAulay scored his side’s third try of the day.

From here on in, Dalziel dominated with further tries from Simpson and Craig Simmonds although Edinburgh University claim a consolation score.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Dalziel Park, the 2nd XV were taking part in an entertaining match against Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians.

Despite conceding two early tries in the first 15 minutes, Dalziel responded superbly to turn the game around and record a thrilling 26-24 victory.

With the 3rd XV and Under-18 teams also winning, it was a great day for the Motherwell club.