Leith 2nd XV 15 - 19 Moray House/Watsonians

Moray House/Watsonians stepped in to fill our 2s fixture at the weekend after Duns were unable to raise a side for the scheduled league game in East 3 Development League. Leith received the first kick off and began the game brightly, making breaks through the backs, but couldn’t get the final pass to score. Moray House on the other hand took their first chance with the ball, working a backs move well to outnumber the cover defence and send their centre over wide, who improved the position to enable a successful conversion fora 7-0 lead for the visitors.

The game as a whole lacked intensity from the home side, and having conceded ground off a first phase scrum move, Leith conceded a penalty, which was tapped quickly and Moray House scored again for a 12-0 lead. Leith needed a spark before the break, and it duly arrived when stand off Doug Watters broke the line on halfway, before offloading to halfback partner Juan Manakle who sprinted into the 22, before returning the ball to Watters, who put fullback John Stumpf in for a score out wide. Conversion missed for a 12-5 halftime deficit.

Ht 5-12

In the second half Leith upped their attack and ran hard at the 'House defence, with some strong running from Luke McKinney and Toby Kirkwood in particular. Following a lineout deep in the visitors 22, the ball went through the backs, with Will Tuft putting John Stumpf over for an unconverted score. 12-10 to Moray House. Unfortunately, though it was the visitors who scored next with their openside flanker/centre getting a clear run to the line after some poor defensive play. The conversion was slotted for a 19-10 lead.

It didn’t take long for Leith to pull one back though, as from the kick off Julian Mpofu scooped the hanging ball to give Leith possession, and after a resulting penalty for not releasing the tackled player, Leith opted for the line-out. A good catch and drive from the forwards saw the pack get into the 'House 22, stand off Watters stepping inside the defence and putting centre Richard Hastings under the posts. Watters inexplicably then missed the conversion, (pathetically) blaming his injured calf.

Leith continued to mount pressure on the visitors, and it looked to have paid off when debutante loosehead prop Stuart Wilson went over to score but unfortunately the ref didn’t see him put the ball down and the try was disallowed. With time up Leith had one final chance to score on the game's last play, and from a scrum the ball was passed blind to Watters who stepped inside his man and kept running, before offloading to Mpofu, but the winger was forced in to touch just short of the try line.

Scrappy.