CARTHA QP RFC RUGBY REPORT

CARTHA QUEEN's PARK v KELSO SAT 25th March 2017
This long anticipated match took place on a beautiful day with no rain in sight and a pleasant temperature of 14 degrees.
Playing before the largest crowd of the season everything was in place for a massive showdown game between the league leaders Cartha QP and second placed Kelso who were sitting five points behind CQP but had two games in hand. CQP were at full stength whereas Kelso apparently had lost the services of their captain who had recently sustained a broken arm.
Kelso opened well and after fourteen minutes took the lead with a try in the corner which they converted. Seven minutes later Kelso increased their lead to ten points with a successful penalty conversion. At this point things looked good for Kelso but CQP had other ideas CQP were taking full advantage of the dry ball and trying to play as much open rugby as possible. With twenty four minutes on the clock Turkey opened CQP's account with a penalty and on the half hour mark the score moved to 10-6 to Kelso when Turkey ( AKA Wayne Burrows ) slotted a second successful penalty. Five minutes later the crowd erupted as Geebz ( AKA Graeme Docherty ) streaked down the right wing to cross over the line and then move further towards the posts to make life easier for Turkey who duly took full advantage, slotted the conversion and pushed CQP into the lead for the first time Geebz's run must have started from about the half way line and once he got past his opposite winger there was no way it was going to be anything other than a try. Five minutes later he reprised his party trick and scored a second in the corner which Turkey again converted and CQP were now sitting on a 20-10 lead as half time approached, and the game had turned decisively in CQP's favour. Kelso had not of course given up but were being successfully held at bay by totally committed CQP tackling.

HALF TIME CARTHA QUEEN's PARK 20 KELSO 10

Seven minutes into the second half CQP scored their third try courtesy of Guzzler ( AKA Peter Hollier ). There was a pause before the try was awarded when the referee approached the touch judge ( Kelso's injured captain ) and had a discussion with him ( In full flight Geebz had leaped into the air to tap an otherwise " in touch " out of play ball back into the playing field the linesman confirmed with the ref that his feet were off the ground during that episode and that the rugby ? ball was still legitimately in play ) The referee then ran behind the try line to indicate that he was awarding a try which Wayne once again converted. The momentum was all with CQP now who clearly had their eye on a possible bonus point fourth try try. With three quarters of the game played Turkey increased CQP's lead to 30-10 with yet another successful penalty from directlyin front of the posts. With the clock showing a couple of minutes to play that man Geebz struck again. Approaching the Kelso line with a couple of Kelso players in his path he chipped the ball over the line and showed his self belief by gatting there first to touch down to a huge roar from the CQP faithful who could now see not only promotion on the horizon but a real chance of winning the league. Two minutes later the final whistle blew to bring to an end one of the best ever performances by a focussed and totally committed CQP team. Stephan Hartman had been sinbinned with eight minutes left on the clock and CQP had taken Jonny Campion off to get Fraser Paul on as hooker. The reduction to fourteen men didn't seem to matter much to CQP who continued to attack the Kelso line.

FULL TIME CARTHA QUEEN'S PARK 37 KELSO 10.

As stated later on the Kelso web site this was a superb CQP performance which maintained their 100% home record and brought to an end a magnificent fourteen league run of wins by Kelso. The victory means that CQP cannot be caught by third placed Peebles who did their best to stay in the race by winning with a try bonus at Kirkcaldy. Kelso play Peebles in Kelso in April and will definitely join CQP in NL1 next season if they win.

Once again this was a first class CQP performance by the best CQP team I have witnessed at Dumbreck since I returned from London twenty eight years ago. There is absolutely no doubt that CQP fully deserve their promotion and it looks as though they will never be out of the borders next season.

While as stated this was once again a great team performance two players stood out as deserving special praise. Firstly Turkey whose dad had come over from Northern Ireland to attend the game. Not only did he successfully convert all seven kicking opportunities but his general play and ball distribution was excellent all afternoon

Next up Geebz who taking full advantage of a dry ball and excellent service from his centres had what must have been one of his best ever games. His first try was truly electrifying and his third was a wonderful example of how confident he was feeling backing himself 100% to get to his chip ahead first.

It would also be remiss to not to mention captain Tam Davidson who lead his team very well throughout and distributed the ball really well from his scrum half position leading to great deal of fine passing by the CQP backline.

Meantime the frontline soldiers in the pack were doing their part by successfully securing possession. Chris Wicks caught the eye by his very active participation in the line outs despite the presence in the Kelso line out of the tallest man on the park who had to be at least tree inches taller than anyone else. Every Cartha QP player and the subs proved their worth in defence and attack a tremendous performance by all

So now it is on to Aberdeen next Saturday. The outcome of this game will go a long way to determining who will win the title. A try bonus victory for CQP would mean that not only would Kelso need to win their three remaining games with a try bonus but they would have to overcome a serious points differential advantage held by CQP which stands at seventyfive. In our two trips to Aberdeen last year we won one and lost won. Aberdeenshire sit in fifth place and recorded a 61-41 away victory at West Lodge last weekend another tough away match in store for the CQP squad

I will comment on the contribution of our coaching team in my next and last report of the season following the Aberdeenshire game.