It was wind-chill chilly indeed on the Northbridge Tabletop this afternoon with Shore hosting Scots. My sense that the "wind factor" was worth maybe 2 or 3 tries was not proven in the 2's with the quite unbelievable stat that ALL 4 tries scored in the 14-all draw were scored at the "wrong end", against the breeze.
Scots were favourites in the 1's, but the Shore tenacity and spirit is undeniable. Both aspects were borne out today.
Apart from the wind, a levelling factor was the Northbridge quagmire, the cricket pitch area on the Shore No.1 Oval. It was a good old fashioned Irish bog. After Thursday/Friday's inclemency, Monster trucks could get bogged in that stuff this afternoon, and not come out!
Also of interest was a few changes to the Scots line-up, post- the Term break and Rep games / camps. Dan England played at 12. Nick Shannon came in at flyhalf. Prindiville (11) reverted to his happy hunting ground on the left wing. And there was at least one change up front in the engine room with a new No.3.
Apart from the first 15', I got the feeling that Scots had Shore's measure throughout.
Theo Strang (9) opened the scoring with some blunt force trauma defence on his opposite number leading to a spilt pill, a toe through, a favourable pop up recovery, and he was over under under the black dot. A second meat pie soon after to the effervescent Woods (2) stepping inside had the lads in yellow 14-0 up.
Shore's best player of H1, their big No.8., who made solid yards up the guts with every carry he made, linking with the Half to find their nippy left wing heading down the leg side, and finally going in out wide. Conversion went wide into the wind, but we had a game at 14-5.
And from that point, the Bellevue Hill Boys seemed to get a bit more serious. They worked 2 more tries in H1, to the Flyhalf, Shannon, and another to Prindiville who took over with him three defender hangers-on in contact. a deceptively strong lad that.
And then Shore did their thing, with their Half working down the left beautifully, turning the Scots 15 first inside, then out, and finally finding on the inside the ubiquitous big No.8 in active support-mode. Try time before the half to give hope, but a slice on the conversion, so we go to oranges with Scots up 24-10. with the inbuilt change of fortune today with the wind-factor coming up for Shore in H2.
Both teams settled in to the arm-wrestle after the break. If Shore scored first with the wind at their backs, all the punting guides could get chucked out.
But it just wasn't to be.
The 2nd half arm-wrestle ensued, with plenty of work especially for ALL the piggies in the middle. Max Girdler (6) in particular, did a huge amount of the heavy lifting in the ugly parts for Scots, constantly making forward yards and providing a platform. (Azzuri would've been pleased with the work load on display + the bonus of making the prancing ponies in the backs stand around and shivering in anticipation.)
Hawkins (13) and Prindiville (11) doing the tough stuff set up try #5 for the Scots boys, and after further fine work from his piggie mates up front, Ryan McAulay (5) celebrating a national Guernsey over the term break, went in under the posts to put Scots out of reach. Scots up 38-10.
The cold and the rain squalls then got the better of this particular correspondent, and the City sideline was no place to be any further, freezing fingers and toes.
A really entertaining game played in good spirit for the most part, but in pretty awful conditions as compared to the bright sunshine and balmy climate of the 4ths' midday game!
My best:
For Shore: 8 and 9.
For Scots: 2, 6 and 12.
