Dalziel Rugby Club undone by GHA

Oct 19 2011 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

DALZIEL went down to a 28-14 defeat against GHA at Braidholm on Saturday in their latest Premier Three clash.

The visitors began the game by standing back from their Glasgow counterparts and allowing them to gain good ground.

The deadlock was broken by a Robert Simpson penalty for Dalziel but GHA returned with interest in the form of ex-Glasgow Warriors player Hefin O’Hare.

The outside centre broke through a weak tackle from first phase lineout ball in Dalziel’s half and used his electrifying pace to round the remaining defenders and score.

Dalziel used their forwards to control long spells but a number of mistakes meant GHA gained possession and were able to make good ground and play territorially.

Indiscipline at the ruck cost Dalziel three points from a resulting penalty.

The restart was put out on the full, giving the home side a scrum in the middle of the park.

O’Hare ran down the blind side and quick ball proved costly for the Motherwell boys as their scrum-half spotted a huge overlap and sent the winger scampering along the touchline unchallenged to score a second try.

Unlike last week, Dalziel’s lineout was not functioning well, which GHA capitalised on.

However Simpson added a second penalty on the stroke of half-time to make the score 18-6 in favour of the home side at the break.

GHA endured a period of pressure on the Dalziel line from the beginning of the second half but good defence by the away side kept them out.

From a 22 drop out, however, GHA moved the ball to centre O’Hare, who again waltzed through the defensive line virtually untouched to score his second try of the day in the corner.

Dalziel worked their way into the game midway through the second half and got a try of their own.

Flanker Kris Hughes made a storming run down the wing from turnover ball, beating four tacklers and setting up quick ruck ball for Ross Donnachie to use.

The ball was spun to the other side of the pitch and an inside pass from Gillon Duguid sent Donnachie over in the corner.

Now the Dalziel team were playing their own game and had another opportunity for a try in the same corner, as a half break and offload in midfield allowed quick ball to get to the wing only for Lewis Matheson to be put into touch.

They created a number of half-chances in the final 10 minutes, something which was notably lacking in the first half.

But it was GHA who claimed the win which saw them leapfrog Dalziel into fourth. The Motherwell side drop to sixth.

This weekend they face third-placed Lasswade at Dalziel Park.

Meanwhile, Dalziel’s 2nd XV were defeated 39-0 at a wet Auldhouse on Saturday.

Their second defeat in a row sees them drop to fourth in Reserve National Two.

The 3rd XV were edged out by Cambuslang 48-31 in an entertaining affair.

In tough conditions, Scott McLelland grabbed a hat-trick, while Anton Mitchell scored a brace of tries.

Davie Stewart, Alan Moore and Chris Howieson were also on the scoresheet, with Stewart and Moore each adding two conversions.