Scotland Rugby League - Bulls Win 2000 Conference Final

BULLS
Tries - Jamieson, Van Der Hoek, Bassinder 2, Edgar 3, Glen, Cameron.
Conversions - Van Der Hoek 4
Penalties - Van der Hoek
Drop Goal - Van Der Hoek

Glasgow Bulls pulled off a remarkable win on their home pitch to win the Scottish Championship, and they did in in some style!

Glasgow Bulls pulled off a remarkable win on their home pitch to win the Scottish Championship, and they did in in some style! Edinburgh had had a 9-1 regular season, and only lost a game due to it being re-arranged to an unsuitable time for them to put out a team. Glasgow, in contrast, despite a good series of results ended up 5-5 in the regular season. Glasgow's problem was the unavailability fo their cadre of experienced internationals throughout he middle part of the season. The game started off ominously for the Glasgow men as scrum half Kiwi Shannon Warren waltzed through the defence in the first minute to open the scoring for Edinburgh. Captain Daniel Oosthuizen converted with ease.

Bulls captain David Jamieson responded five minutes later bulldozing through after a series of drives by Holdsworth, Whittam and Bassinder had set him up for the short pass. Canadian national rugby league squad member Ross van der Hoek converted to even the score. Barely had the game restarted when Shannon Warren scored again. He had been in the blood bin for a head knock; came back on, collected the ball with his first touch and set off down the wing from indeed his own half; he outpaced the Bulls wingers before side-stepping the full-back to score. His captain converted again.

By the 19th minute the game had swung around again - Van Der Hoek slotted two points for a penalty awarded against the Edinburgh men for offside. Bulls full-back Paul Bassinder, (the Featherstone man playing his last game in Scotland before work takes him back south) ran in an unconverted try in the corner.

Ten minutes later Bassinder was to score an identical try as the game swung in favour of the Bulls. Two minutes later his back line partner Barry Edgar was to score as well, Howard Cameron and David Jamieson driving forward before the ball was winged out. Just before half-time Ross Van Der Hoek got a try to make up for several conversion misses as the result of neat interplay with the experienced Bassinder. He fed the ball to Bassinder, looped around him, and caught the return.

The first ten minutes of the second half were frantic and culminated in two scoring opportunities. Prop Tommy McGee tore thorough the Bulls but his touch down was chalked off as one of his team mates crossed in front of the ball carrier. Immediately the Bulls went right back up the park with Barry Edgar carrying the ball most of the way and scoring under the posts. The Bulls were playing with supreme confidence and the sort of play they were capable of showed in the 56th minute when Kiwi winger Iain Glen was the man to crown a move which involved cross field moves from five of his team-mates.

Three minutes later Barry Edgar had a long run in on the right wing leaving Eagles floundering in his wake. A team of the Eagles quality was never going to leave a Grand Final pitch without a fight, and so it proved in a crucial six minute spell. Firstly, Andy Dalglish dove over in the right corner to bring the score to 40-16 in the 65th minute. Two minutes later Bulls full-back Bassinder made a try saving tackle as last man on Steve Bisset who was gunning for the posts. From the play-the-ball restart Andy Dalglish was again over the whitewash but knocked on as he grounded the ball. Three minutes later he made amends and got the four points, again in the corner.

At 41-22 there was still some margin for error but the Bulls killed the game in a two minute blitz which provided Van Der Hoek with a drop goal and Howard Cameron with a try as he blasted through the Eagles line from 15 metres out. In the final minute of the game Van Der Hoek apparently capped a fine performance with a try but this one was chopped off for crossing in front of the ball carrier. Afterwards the Bulls captain David Jamieson said, "I was very confident going into the game, the Eagles were a strong team but with our full squad available to us I knew we could win. Our back line was magnificent and the up front we neutralised a very powerful Eagles attack through doing the simple things well".

1 min - Shannon Warren try 0 - 4 Daniel van Ouesthuizen conversion 0-6
6 min - David Jamieson try 4 - 6 Ross van der Hoek conversion 6 - 6
9 min - Shannon Warren, try 6 - 10 van Ouesthuizen conversion 6 -12
14 min - van der Hoek penalty, 8 - 12
19 min - try Paul Bassinder 12-12 no conversion
28 mins - Paul Bassinder, try, 16 -12 n/c
30 mins - Barry Edgar, try, 20 - 12
36 mins - Van Der Hoek, try, 24 - 12 n/c

49 mins - Barry Edgar, try, 28 - 12 van der Hoek conversion 30 - 12
56 mins - Iain Glen, try 34 - 12 van der Hoek conversion 36 -12
59 mins - Barry Edgar, try, 40 - 12 n/c
65 mins - Andy Dalglish, try, 40-16 n/c
71 mins - Andy Dalglish, try, 40-20 conv. Van Ouesthuizen 40-22
73 mins - Van Der Hoek, drop goal, 41-22
75 mins - Howard Cameron, try, 45-22 conv, Van Der Hoek 47-22

MAN OF THE MATCH - Paul Bassinder
REFEREE - Steve Ganson, Rugby Football League
LINESMEN - Ralph Allmond, Kinloss & Ian Golightly, Edinburgh.
ATT - 300.