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GUNNERS PREVAIL IN LOW-KEY DERBY
Gunners: 28 Warriors: 12
Matches between these two sides have in recent times tended to be short on quality, but long on excitement, controversy, and general ill feeling. All very entertaining. Tonight's match at Murrayfield, however, was an exception. In Todd Blackadder's first game as capital coaching guru, Edinburgh wrapped a pretty comfortable win with the minimum of fuss. Yes, there were a few flashes of brilliance from the Gunners, and, indeed, from the visitors. But it all felt a bit flat.
Even the presence of controversial Irish referee, Simon "Controversial" McDowell - whose controversial decision to flag Ali Hogg in touch to deprive Scotland of a rare 6 Nations win in Paris last season proved extremely, well, controversial - did not excite much, erm, controversy among the hefty derby crowd.
The Gunners got off to a good start, with a Paterson penalty after just over a minute's play. But Glasgow's riposte shortly afterwards was one of those tries that are fabulous if you are the ones scoring it, but immensely annoying if you are doing the conceding. From a lineout outside the home 22, Lawson threw to the impressive Hayter at the front, who dinked the ball back. The Warriors' hooker, who had an excellent game overall, hared off down the vacant wing and dived over for an intelligent, unconverted score, the McDowell whistle being drowned out by continued widespread snoring in the Edinburgh defence.
Paterson reclaimed the lead for Edinburgh with a penalty after Dewey and Cross had made inroads into the Glasgow 22. Then, after a Godman chip into Glasgow's in goal area had trundled just a bit too far for the stand off to reach, the Gunners struck. First, with the referee playing advantage for Glasgow offside in their 22, Paterson slotted a dropped goal that was not just ugly, but coyote ugly (but they all count).
Then, from the restart, an excellent forward rumble set up a great Lawson break. The scrum half put Godman away on a super break deep into enemy territory, halted only by a high tackle. Paterson kicked the resulting penalty to the corner. Off the lineout ball, the Gunners went right. At the breakdown, Lawson intelligently switched play back left where Edinburgh had numbers. Simon Cross again made good ground, almost carrying two tacklers over the line, before unloading to Murray on the wing, who surged over for the try, converted by Paterson. 16-5, and the gap was beginning to open up.
The Gunners were playing some good stuff at this point. A lovely Leonelli chip and go almost saw the South American superstar over for an excellent score. And Simon Cross, whose best work generally occurs in defence and at the breakdown, was unwontedly prominent with ball in hand. He took the ball up to good effect on a regular basis, and resembled nothing less than a ginger Jean Pierre Rives throughout his hour on the park. But the Gunners' good approach work and constant pressure was foiled by solid Glasgow defence. Too often, the ball carrier found himself isolated; too often, the ball at the breakdown was a fraction of a second slow.
As the half entered injury time, Edinburgh effectively killed the game with a fine try. The ball was nicked at a Glasgow breakdown, then Lawson shot up the right wing from half way, skipping out of several would-be tackles on the way. Fatigue seemed to set in from around the Glasgow 10, and his running style increasingly resembled that of Paula Radcliffe. But he eventually made it to the corner to stagger over for the converted score, 23-5 Edinburgh at the half.
The second half saw Glasgow begin to come back into the game, with some useful pressure. The Edinburgh defence coped comfortably with all that the Warriors could throw at them, until the last ten minutes, when Craig scored a good try, converted by Parks.
Edinburgh hit back immediately, though. A Hogg breenge into the Glasgow 22 set up Rob Dewey in traffic. The big centre had scored in all three games he had played this season before tonight, and completed the set with another powerful score. Although the Gunners came close to the bonus point try as the clock wound down, with Hogg just knocking on a yard out after another excellent run, the final score remained 28-12 Edinburgh.
The Gunners are, however briefly, sitting at the top of the League tonight, sporting an impressive 4-1 record. Next Friday sees them making the short trip down to Netherdale, to play a Reivers side that has also had a good start to the season. It will be tough.
MAN OF THE MATCH:
RORY LAWSON for a busy display and an excellent solo try.
SCORERS:
Gunners: Paterson 2C 2P 1DG, Dewey 1T, Murray 1T, Lawson 1T
Warriors: Parks 1C, Lawson 1T, Craig 1T
BONUS POINTS:
For the first time this season, Glasgow, the bonus kings, emerged pointless. But the Gunners will again be disappointed that they did not secure the fourth try for the winning bonus point having notched two tries before half time.
TEAMS:
Edinburgh: Hugo; Paterson ©, Di Rollo, Dewey, Leonelli; Godman, Lawson; Hewett, Hall, Smith, Kellock, Murray, Hogg, Taylor, Cross. Replacements: Kelly, Dickinson, Pringle, Strokosch, Blair, Hodge, Webster
Glasgow: Howarth; Lamont, Craig, Barrow, Roberts; Parks ©, Pinder; Tkachuk, Lawson, Harrison, Turner, Barker; Hayter, Beattie, Wilson.
Referee: McDowell (IRFU)
Martin Bell
