Saints End Drought in Glasgow Quagmire

The white line painters had to do the job manually, as there was no joy with the machine. A lot of rain had fallen in the morning (I should know, a lot of it ended up in my shoes) and the Scotland v Wales RL international round the corner at Old Anniesland was also a quite boggy affair.

Glasgow's problemds increased straight after the try, as the kickoff didn't rech 10 metres. Saints had some promising attacks over the next few minutes, but lost two lineouts - one for not straight, and one for closing the gap - which cost them significant ground.

On 12 minutes, Darren Fox departed the field after a yellow card for punching. His temper flared several times later in the match, and he was lucky to remain on the field. The Glasgow attack leading from the sinbinning led to a penalty on the Saints 22, which Glasgow flyhalf Dan Parks slotted to leave the Saints 7 - 3 to the good after 15 minutes.

Handling was tricky in the wet conditions, leading to many knock ons. This only made conditions worse, as it led to more scrums - most of which the referee insisted on resetting at least once for one reason or another.

Some promising play was seen, much improved on recent weeks, however a lot of the finsihing was still left wanting. Darren Fox's return to the pitch on 23 minutes was eventful - two minutes later he was being treated for a significant head wound.

The ball was turned over by both teams, through bad handling and poor kicking for touch, however it was a shame to see Kenny Logan not demonstrating how it should be done. Drahm's 34th minute penalty attempt from the Glasgow ten metre line came off the crossbar, and was collected by Saints only to knock it on. On 37 minutes Sharky was penalised (harshly, I believe) for going over the top at a ruck - Parks kicked the three points to leave it 7 - 6 at half time.

The second half began with Saints in the familiar black, green and gold, after starting in the "Daz" white kit. No reason for the change, as the kit didn't clash any less in the second half - after two or three minutes, they were all covered in mud anyway. Saints earned a penalty from a drive on in the tenth minute, and Drahm again stepped up to put the Saints lead up to 10 - 6.

Twelve minutes into the half Wylie Human came on the pitch for John Rudd. Rhino seemed to be struggling a bit in the conditions, it made a change for us not to be screaming for Cohen to be substituted. Two minutes later, Glasgow openside Donnie MacFadyen spent ten minutes cooling off for a professional foul. The referee had missed a lot of shenanigans on both sides, but one binnig apiece was about right. Drahm kicked the resultant penalty to push the Saints to 13 - 6 ahead.

Much of the game relied on kicking, which was inaccurate from both sides - either went straight into touch or stayed twenty yards infield. On 23 minutes, MacFadyen tried to return only to be told he had another two minutes. Glasgow substitutes came thick and fast in the match - four (plus one blood injury) to Saints three, however two of those were in thew last five minutes.

Ten minutes from the end, Fox was judged to slip his bindings at a scrum and Parks maintained his 100% record to narrow the gap to 13 - 9. Seely joined the fray minutes later, replacing an in-form but tired Andy Blowers. Brett Sturgess tried to come on at 38 minutes, but was left on the touchline for three minutes (during which time there were three stoppages) until he finally replaced Chris Budgen with about thirty seconds remaining.

Final score was 13 - 9 to the Saints, a win, a try, no real injury concerns - and it hardly rained during the match. Hopefully we can maintain this run for future weeks.