TIGERS NINE AND NOT OUT

Glasgow Tigers  42 v Durham Saints 0

 Glasgow Tigers quest for College Bowl glory moved one step closer today (Sunday 14^th March) with a more than comfortable win over the Durham Saints.

With Durham in their plain blue uniforms, you could easy have felt in a bit of a time warp watching the Tigers taking on the Caledonian Roughriders in their first season.

For Roughriders devotees, they would no double have evoked some painful memories, where despite battling for everything that was put in front of them; they turned out to be the league whipping boys, losing over 70 points to the Tigers – two games in succession.

And in the first half it looked as if we could be heading for a similar score line as the Tigers, with a powerhouse performance from their offensive defensive lines, racking up five touchdowns by half time.

But with the game beyond them, Durham stepped it up in the second half, resulting in a much more evenly fought contest, where it looked even though the visitors struggled in attack, they certainly turned in a much better display on the defensive side ball until David Teenan nailed the final touchdown for Glasgow late in the final quarter.

Glasgow came into the season with a 100% record against a Durham side that had dropped three games this season with one game tied, so as far as the stats were concerned, the Tigers were firm favourites for this first round of the knock out stages.

And the Saints looked as if they had their work cut out during the early stages of the first quarter, being pinned deep in their half gaining little yardage when in possession.

So it came as no surprise when Glasgow eventually opened their account with what is becoming a trademark run from star rookie rusher, Lewis King, slipped past his marker, finding a gap down the near side, sprinting all the way to the endzone.

The Tigers increased the lead on the two point conversion attempt when quarterback Gregor Beattie sent a screen pass to King, who sent a lob to an open Andrew Armes for an 8-0 lead.

Durham were in trouble again when they turned over possession on their next drive and were promptly punished minutes later when Rory McAlpine  ran in a second touchdown, with King nailing the 2 point conversion and sixteen unanswered point at the end of the first quarter

Durham tried to shut up shop at the start of the second quarter, offering very little in attack.  But despite their efforts, the English struggled to contain the powerhouse Tigers lineman who opened up plenty of opportunities for the Glasgow backfield.

A power run from King up the middle handed the Tigers excellent field position once again.   On the next play it was time for McAlpine’s to turn on the speed through a mass of bodies for his second touchdown of the day.

The rout continued when the Tigers showed that there was more to their game than just power running when quarterback Beattie sent a perfectly timed ball over the heads of the helpless defense into the hands of Scott McIntosh, giving him a clear run all the way to the endzone, leaving King to add another successful two point conversion.

Durham’s game appeared to be in meltdown in a scene reminiscent from the film “The Replacements”, when heavy pressure from the Tigers forced the ball spinning in the air and falling into the hands of lineman Michael McHaffie, who battled to gain those extra yards for another touchdown, unfortunately he ran out of steam, but put the Tigers in excellent field position again.

Minutes later, King turned another of his trademark runs weaving through the helpless run weaving through the helpless Durham rear guard for a 36-0 half time lead.

Based on the first half performance, there were plenty of indications that there were plenty more points to come in what had been a one sided performance.

However with the game effectively over, pride was at stake now for the visitors, who stepped up the work rate in the second half to make it a more competitive game,

And even though the Saints had more yardage in possession, they still could not break the Tigers defense who often found a way through the Saints offensive wall putting the quarterback under intense pressure.

With no change in the score line, the Saints did manage to restore some pride with a much improved performance in the second half.

But the final word went to the Tigers in the final minutes of the game when quarterback, Gregor Beattie’s long diagonal pass was met with a great catch from Teenan, taking it all the way for a well worked final touchdown.