Largs rugby star shines in Ardrossan Accies victory

In a match that "coughed up" 11 tries, the home side were dominant but still allowed their visitors to score four tries.

Accies team sheet showed the return of Bruce Hunter at scrum-half after being out for 3 weeks and Captain Ben Hamilton starting at Hooker.

In overcast but dry conditions, Calum Gauld kicked off the match for Murrayfield wanderers who were attacking the school end of the pitch. Murrayfield were penalised for being offside at the kick-off and Stuart Lewis kicked to touch for an attacking Accies Lineout. A good drive from the lineout by Gordon Telfer took play deep into the opposition 22 before off-loading to Ben Hamilton ,who then gave the final pass for Bruce Hunter to score the first of his two tries of the afternoon. Stuart Lewis converted to put Accies 7 points in front after only 3 minutes of play.

5 minutes later Accies increased their lead after Nathan Welsh took the ball at the tail of a lineout and drove upfield, the ball was transferred to Andy Duncan who fed Ian Kerr to score in the corner. Stuart Lewis converted a very difficult touchline kick.

Accies scored their third try of the afternoon on the 25th minute after a driven lineout was finished off by Stuart McMaster touching down; again the accurate boot of Stuart Lewis added the additional 2 points.

An injury to Lewis Maxwell saw Scott Campbell coming on at Hooker and Ben Hamilton moving back to his normal position at prop.

The home sides pace of the game and direct running had their opponents on the back foot and it was only a matter of time before they would score their 4th try and it duly did, on the half hour mark Kyle Woods went through the Edinburgh side's defence to score. Stuart Lewis converted.

In injury time Murrayfield scored two tries in quick succession, poor defending allowed the very quick Calum Marshall to sprint from the halfway line to score. This was followed by Jamie Thorburn going over on the last move of the half; both tries were converted by Calum Gauld.

Half Time Score

Accies 28 Murrayfield Wanderers 14

Accies started the second half by scoring their 5th try after Scott Campbell finished off a driven lineout, the conversion was missed.

Murrayfield were coming back into the game and for a ten minute spell had the home side penned back inside their 22 but the Accies defence was keeping them at bay. On the 15th minute another home score was recorded after Kyle Woods finished off a handling move involving most of the team, Stuart Lewis converted to put his side on 40 points. Straight from the restart kick Murrayfield were

awarded a penalty, a drive to the line by Josh Gibbon came close before the ball was spun wide for Calum Marshall to score his second try, the conversion was missed.

Accies scored their 7th try of the match on the 30th minute after another Stuart Lamont catch and drive came very close, recycled ball allowed Bruce Hunter to gather and dive over, the conversion was good.

With the outcome of the game now decided Accies were taking their foot off the pedal and their dominance evaporated, in the dying minutes of the match Calum Marshall scored his third and Murrayfield's fourth try, the conversion was missed.

This was a very good win for Accies which sees them 1 point adrift at the top of the league table. They should be confident of next week's fixture away to Srathmore, particularly as they have a full squad available

Accies Squad

Harry Rodgers,Ben Hamilton,Logan Maxwell,Stuart McMaster,Gordon Telfer,Jamie Thomson,Nathan Welsh,Stuart Lamont,Bruce Hunter,Stuart Lewis,Ian Kerr ,Kyle Woods,Ruairidh Anderson,Andrew Hales,Andrew Duncan,Conor Small,Robert Hunter,Scott Campbell,Neil Monaghan