World Footy News

This article courtesy of Michael Douglas from the Greater Glasgow Giants.

The Greater Glasgow Giants made their competitive debut at the 2015 Haggis Cup, an annual invitational tournament held in Scotland every April. This year’s event took place in Edinburgh and, with experience levels ranging from 20 years to a few weeks, the Giants’ squad started the tournament excited to develop and get vital game time ahead of the 2015 season starting in May.

They faced a daunting task in the opening match as the Huddersfield Rams had brought a squad full of experience and littered with England internationals. The game went to the wire with the Rams coming out on top by 2 points, the Giants got off to a slow start but came back strong in the 2nd half finding themselves unlucky not to snatch victory late on as they had the chances!

Game 2 was decisive as the Giants squared off against another new team in the shape of the Falkirk Silverbacks. Falkirk had won their first game so the Giants knew they had to win convincingly to clinch a berth in the Semi-finals. Again the Giants started slowly but their effort in defence was fantastic and they had kicked the only goal of the game when half-time came around.

The second half saw the offensive side match the defensive effort and the Giants ran out convincing winners, kicking 4 second half goals and the Silverbacks only managing one behind against a mean Giants back line. The performance and result was good enough to claim a semi-final berth!

The semi-final will probably go down as the best game of the day as the Giants faced a cross city derby against the Glasgow Sharks. With the Giants having 5 ex-Sharks in their line-up this was a game with pride as well as a spot in the final at stake. The Sharks got on top with an early goal in a game fiercely contested from the first bounce but always played with a great spirit. The second half saw the Sharks lead by 9 points late on but after one former Shark in Steve Thompson kicked a goal to reduce the deficit to 3, another one (Michael Douglas) converted a close range set shot in the last minute to seal a 23-20 victory and a rematch with the Huddersfield Rams in the final.

A wicked cross wind created havoc during the final and the game was probably one step too far for the Giants after the high of the derby victory. The Rams ran out deserved winners of the tournament going through the day undefeated.

The Giants entered the Haggis Cup looking to take baby steps in the run up to the 2015 season. Instead they took Giant strides and now look forward to Opening Day on the 9th May with a new confidence gained from a day of phenomenal effort and more than a bit of skill!!