A chilly and fresh Saturday afternoon saw Elliot Road play host to a visiting Bannockburn squad.  With a good crowd in place it was great to see a selection of past Coaches, Players and even the odd President of the Harris FP RFC being in attendance.

Harris kicked off the match and were straight away on the offensive with Peter Bruce and Richard McIvor puting in big tackles on the opposing ball carriers.  Within a few minutes the backs were up to speed with the game and some fine back running and handling, fronted by Kenny Clarkson saw Bannockburn forced in to a penalty, which Kenny unfortunately placed wide, but the tempo was set.

It wasn’t long before there was a second chance.  A great backs move came together nicely with Dave Wright, Sama’an Akel and Mike Dalrymple combining to give Adam Wood the space to go over.  The conversion was missed but, 5 minutes in and the score was 5 – 0.

Harris started to show some dominance in the lineout early on with Colin Gourley and Richard McIvor taking everything put their way, for or against. And it was another to these that gave the crowd what turned out to be the biggest cheer of the day when a lineout was pinched from the opposition jumper and as the resulting ruck formed in the middle of the pitch, one Philip Yeaman was found creeping around the fringes, waiting like a coiled spring to produce a delightfully delicate kick to touch, proving that forwards of a larger mass can kick the ball.  Watch out Kenny!

The game settled in to a period of very open play with both side playing some good running rugby. Back moves were aplenty but with both team trying to use up there 10 minutes of handling errors at the same time it became scrappy at points.  Along with some of the referees decisions it made for an interesting spectacle.

As the clock ticked pass the half way point of the first half Harris made their move again.  A well taken lineout saw great interplay between the forwards and backs playing down to the Bannockburn 22’.  A subsequent scrum on the 22’ was won by Harris and the ball was shipped left out to Adam Wood who made ground before the supporting David Bowen took the ball over for the second try of the match.  Kenny Clarkson slotted the ball home for the conversion and the score red 12 - 0

On 35 minutes, almost against the run of play at that point, Harris broke through again as the backs came together to ship the ball wide and put Mike Dalrymple in beside the posts.  Kenny Clarkson converted to see the score increase to 19 - 0

As the game headed to half time the Bannockburn pressure continued on the Harris line, and only a fantastic piece of try saving defence by Adam Wood saw a 3 on 1 attack falter when the 1 defender won.

The second half started off in the same vain that we had left the first.  The Bannockburn restart launched the ball well in to the Harris half and the pressure was back on the defensive line.  Some hard tackling ensued which resulted in Harris being penalised, Bannockburn tried to keep the momentum going with a ‘8’ pick up from the resultant scrum but it came to nothing.

All hell broke loose with 55 minutes on the clock after Bruce, Gourley and Fyall made some derogatory remarks about the oppositions fashion sense in that they were sporting a Bay City Rollers retro colour scheme, this comment was taken to heart and a all out melly ensued.  If anyone can actually tell what the fight was about please feel free to advise.  One thing it did bring was the best caught quote of the afternoon from the Bannockburn Official running the far touch line who felt the need to come running on the pitch to advise the referee that all the Harris players were punching his boys, when he was sent back to his line he took a slight grump and made short work in advising the ref of his ability with “I’m far more qualified to referee than you!” ........ Priceless.

The game settled down again in to a rugby match with the game flowing back and forth.  Harris started to take a firm grasp again after 60 minutes with the combination of Colin & Richie continuing to rule the lineout ball, and that was where the next try started.

With a secured ball from the line, Phil Yeaman and Jamie Barker put Richie in to space and he didn’t need to be show twice as he crossed for Harris’s 4th try.  The conversion was missed but the score was 24 – 0.

Harris continued to pressurise the Bannockburn line but there was still stiff resistance and the game settled in the middle of the park with a long spell of lineout, ruck, kick being played as all concerned tried to catch some breath.  The new approach of a Yeaman, Bruce, Quinn centre and wing team was a new one for the bemused crowd.

As the game moved in to the final 10 minutes, Harris pushed to move the game out of sight of the opposition with a string of attacking moves and breakaways.  Andy Quinn’s footballing skills were put to the test when he broke through and kicked ahead, he claims the legs gave up but we think there’s a good reason the ball goes through his hands and not his feet!  Bannockburn got back to stop that attack but there was more to come.

The pressure continued to grow with Rory Wares being the next to make a break for the line, sniping around from a pickup at the back of the scrum, but he was stopped in his tracks by the opposition defence before being penalised.

Finally we broke through with a lovely piece of interplay between the forwards and backs.  Richie McIvor took yet another excellent catch at the middle of the lineout before the ball was shipped through the backs to a ruck on the Bannockburn 22’, as it was recycled back in field the combination of David Bowen and the aforementioned Mr McIvor combined with Mike Dalrymple to send him on his way for Harris’s 5th try of the match.  Unfortunately Kenny missed the conversion but the score stood at a health 29 – 0.

With that Joe Abbott (the baby faced assassin) was thrown in to the mix and with only 24 seconds under his belt he tried a mazie run at the Bannockburn defence.  It may have been his lightning pace, but it was more likely the swearing from his mouth that put the opposition backs off, and he sneaked through for the final Harris try of the match.  Kenny Clarkson took a stab at the conversion but it wasn’t to be (his lucky pants were definitely in the wash!), with 75 minutes gone the score was 34 – 0.

Bannockburn piled on the pressure in the final few minutes, determined that they weren’t going home empty handed, and they didn’t.  In the final minute the Bannockburn (20) managed to slice through the Harris back line to record the opposition’s only points of the afternoon, the conversion was missed with the final kick of the game.

All in all the game produced a good Harris performance which was sorely required after last weeks trip to Kinross.  Lets see if we can keep it going!