Strathclyde away game is ‘Nae bother’ for Heriot-Watt

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Heriot-Watt’s try machine overcame a young Strathclyde side in a routine away win in Glasgow to retain their position at the top of division two of the BUSA Scottish conference.

The 33-point margin of victory doesn’t flatter Heriot-Watt, who were clearly the stronger side. They scored first early in the first half through Kyle Best, and although Strathclyde were able to respond to make it 5-5, from that point onwards Heriot-Watt dominated the game with fluid attacking rugby, scoring six tries, twice through winger Lewis Mckinstry’s efforts down the left wing in the second half. Strathclyde were suffering from injury problems and were forced to field a team that included seven freshers, who struggled against the skillful Heriot-Watt attacks.

Their lack of experience showed in the 52nd minute. Strathclyde had stolen the ball and were on a counter-attack but Heriot-Watt centre Pete Saunders, in a daring display of cheek, joined the Strathclyde line as he tracked back and, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, managed to receive a pass from his opponents who mistook him for one of their own. The ball eventually fell to Joe Hickman, who proceeded on a long darting run through the field, and, ending up on the opposite wing, let his teammate McKinstry in for an easy score.

Three minutes later No. 8 Liam Slaven went over a blind side run straight from the scrum, and Andy Grodyanski the full-back followed up with an excellent conversion to make it 5-24 and truly crush Strathclyde’s spirits.

Although they managed to compete in the rucks and mauls, Strathclyde were simply unable to handle Heriot-Watt’s pace and invention in the midfield, especially the likes of Saunders and his No.13 Marcus McAllister. It was their skill that accounted for the first-half tries. Saunders put Best through in the 20th minute, working it down the line with ease to score in the corner, and they combined well with a one-two pass to make space for Hickman to go over eight minutes later. Fresher flanker Pascal Thomas also deserves a special mention; he seemed to crop up all over the field with big hits, strong runs, and even kicking to get his team out of trouble.

Late on in the game space really opened up for the Heriot-Watt wingers to cause havoc. McKinstry found himself with a one on one down the line with the try line in sight. He opted to kick and chase, but was beaten in the race by the opposing full back Callum McKenzie. This didn’t deter McKinstry however: he followed up with a massive tackle, and his opponent dropped the ball over the try line for him to score his second. Then five minutes from time, more great work from Saunders left Ross McLaughlin with a wide gap down the line that he duly exploited. McAllister converted to round up the scoring and make it an emphatic 5-38.

Heriot-Watt are in a rich vein of form this season, they have now played four and won four in the league, and after beating Edinburgh in the varsity game and dominating Strathclyde, they will be full of confidence when they entertain Aberdeen on the 21st of November.

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