Leith 2nd XV 31 - 19 Edinburgh Northern 2nd XV

Match Report by Will Tuft

Confucius once said that ‘everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it’. Leith 2’s outing against perennial rivals Edinburgh Northern was one of those tussles when the crowd had to stare quite intently to see that beauty. But it was there; in every bone-shuddering piece of ruck defense, in every well-constructed pick and go and certainly in every piece of fleet footedness stretching the Northern defence.

With the briefest hint of rain, a cloud laden sky and trepidation filling the air, the match referee let out a shrill blast on the whistle and with a cannon of a kick off by Shaun Guesford, the game was set into motion.This motion of the game, unfortunately, was not always perpetual, and was more reminiscent of a hop after someone steps on a Lego brick.

The point scoring began with an element that would dictate much of the play for the next eighty minutes, that of a penalty. Guesford dutifully nudged over from in front of the posts to start a strong thirty minute period from the men in blue and white, even if those minutes were punctuated with a litany of misdemeanors both at the breakdown and in open play.

Despite a plethora of attacking talent readying themselves across the field, forceful inroads into the Northern 22 were tough to come by, mostly due to some sterling work by the visiting pack at close quarters alongside Leith’s growing indiscipline. The introduction of Craig Smith, replacing the unfortunate Bob Grindley, provided a different dimension to the structured phase play and meant that weapons such as Felix Palin, Adam Hepworth and Liam Wilkinson were able to punch increasingly larger holes in the Northern defensive efforts. Luckily, these holes were large enough for a bull to squeeze through and Matt Allison opened the try count for the afternoon by dozing over from 8 years under the posts. Guesford knocked over the extras and Leith were beginning to build a stranglehold on territory and possession.

However, being regularly pegged back by the referee’s whistle meant that counter attacks from deep were the order of the day, none more so effective than the delicate interplay between Michele Crolla and George Easdon, dancing their way up the touchline like the National Ballet’s finest, released Smith into his natural habitat; broken open field. He manoeuvred his way deep into Northern’s 22 and sauntered over the line, albeit via a couple of attempts to trip over his own feet, to extend the lead, supported by Guesford maintaining his 100% record with the conversion.

With the score at 17-0, the crowd were half expecting this to become a riot of blue and white crossing whitewash, but Northern had other ideas and focused on their hard running tight game to force turnovers and extend themselves over the gain line. If the first thirty were all Leith, the final ten of the first half belonged to the men from the bunker. Despite enormous defensive efforts at the breakdown from Leith’s very own Triple H (Hepworth, Hepburn and Humphreys), Northern were forcing a range of illegal activity from the hooped warriors and Leith soon found themselves on their own line. Northern were able to capitalise and in quick succession, were able to muster two scores of their own, both converted, to apply some serious pressure to Leith’s early dominance.

Half time was called when centre Tomek Nawrocki was struck by a wayward boot in the process of making a tackle and then found himself on the way to the Western as said boot had decided to rip half of his face open. A big loss for a backline that was not fully prepared for the level of substitutions that had already occurred but had equipped themselves well.

As players tire, it is natural that a game’s quality may have its ups and downs but the second half shifted like a caffeine addicted child, at one moment, slick and professional, the next stoic and error-strewn.

The first drive of the second forty was slick and professional to the extreme. Michele Crolla unleashing his twinkle toes again to great effect before turning on the afterburners with a powerful fend to leave a significant number of backs in his rear view mirror. He dotted down under the posts to build Leith’s lead into something they would not surrender for the rest of the eighty. Guesford clipped over the extras and the pressure cooker that Northern had created at the end of the first half had been turned down a little.

It was turned off completely a few minutes later as some high quality phases and hands from Jon Derrin, Lex Dunko and Euan Humphreys led to Smith tumbling over the line at close quarters. However, Smith was denied the prestige of the score as the referee deemed a swinging arm in the motion of scoring to be worthy of a penalty try, much to the chagrin of Smith, as it meant his statistics for the game had taken a hit. 7 point score, a bonus point for Leith and some breathing space for the fourth placed team in the league.

Then came the stoicism and with it, a familiar process for the next 15 minutes: Northern on the attack- penalty against Leith- knock on- Scrum- Kick-Repeat. This formed the basis of play until the last five where Northern sensed a bonus point could grab something from the game as they recycled the ball out wide and dived over in the corner for an unconverted try.

And that is how the game ended, with Leith 2s running out 31-19 winners over a determined and gutsy Edinburgh Northern outfit. A game that was short on obvious beauty but full of those characteristics every rugby purist loves: grunt, outrageous dummies and an above average amount of pick and go work.

The 2s will look to continue the excellent defensive efforts and add to the sparkling touches of attacking rugby next weekend when they travel to face league new boys Ferry Road Wanderers on, unsurprisingly, Ferry Road.