Leith 2XV 34 - 10 Caledonian Thebans

Match Report by Will Tuft

Under an early spring cloudless sky, buffeted by blustery Westerley winds and in the shadow of Scottish Rugby’s cauldron of attacking Rugby, the #2s made the short trip across the city to face the Caledonian men of Thebans in the reverse of Leith’s 24-0 win before Christmas.

Travelling to Murrayfield with an unofficial squad of 26 plus backroom staff and videographer, Leith were looking to bounce back from a disappointing start to 2019, with back to back gut-wrenching losses to Pencuik and Ross High.

The men from Leith were on the front foot immediately from the slightly earlier than advertised kick off time as a couple of delicate uses of the boot from the George Lees pinned the Thebens in their own 22, leading to a forced turnover, three quick passes and Andy Barr leaving his opposition for dust in the corner for the opening score of the game, albeit unconverted.

The following ten minutes were a scattergun of knock-ons from both sides and ill-judged passes leading to a cavalcade of scrums, where the Leith tight five demonstrated their dominance over a physically bigger but technically less savvy Thebens pack. With the ball in hand, Leith began to break the gain line at will all over the park, notably from the gazelle like strides of Josh Barker and seemingly inability of the opposition to gain a firm hand on Felix Palin, who ramaged around the fringes like a 2003 Lawrence Dallaglio.

As these breaks broke up the solid Thebans defensive line, more holes were exposed in wider areas and, as surprising as Stuart Hogg’s miraculous hair growth, Hawick’s other favourite son Robert Stitt appeared as if in a vision, in the 13 channel to bulldoze over from ‘20’ yards ( 20 prop yards are 8 yards in Backs yards). Extras were added by Will Tuft and the try seemed to spark the Thebans’ attacking prospects into life as they started to use a clattering centre partnership to cut back inside and make yards within the broken field.

Galvanised by sterling carrying efforts from Ben Place and Stephen Baker, Leith’s pack stood firm around the fringes and forced several turnovers which alleviated pressure and allowed considered passing from the back line to put Dunko and Barr into acres of room under a lowering sun, roaming like wild stallions on the Great Plains.

The wide open expanses were exploited fully as hands more like silk than human flesh from Barclay meant Barr could glide in for his second and Leith’s third before half time; Tuft converted and at the interval the #2s led 19-0.

Wholesale changes from both sides in the early stages of the second half meant an increase in slightly more frenetic passages of play, where the Thebans were let down by their own handling after using some big crash runners to open up gaps in a Leith defence, who were hesitant at the offside line after a raft of first half penalties against them.

A delightful planned move off the base of an attacking scrum from Andy Mac and more purposeful hands from the back line created a straightforward run in for Matt Rea to open his account for the season, adding five points to the total but importantly, securing the bonus point with half an hour to play.

It is clear that the Thebans had to pull something special out of the bag to maintain contact with the men in blue and they were able to make the most of penalties and big crash balls to stay on the front foot for a considerable amount of time of the third quarter, in which scrums and scrappy play played a bigger and bigger part in proceedings.

With Adam Hepworth and Sean Bates consistently making tackles around the rucks and Bob Grindley marshalling from the base, it would take a bit of Leith misfortunate for Thebens to get onto the scoreboard as a innocuous penalty and a single missed tackle meant the opposition 6 was able to dart in for an unconverted score and put some pressure on Leith to put the game to bed.

They duly provided this with Derrin busting holes in a tiring defence, a few well timed passes and Rea was able to double his account for the season. The game had now drifted slightly as the efforts from both packs were beginning to take their toll and the fractious nature of the phases allowed Thebens to capitalise on another single missed tackle to ensure that they were able to leave the pitch head held high with a second score.

But it would be one of Leith’s stalwarts who would have the last word on proceedings as several patient recycled phases of ball in Thebens’ 22 culminated in Keith Aitchison crashing over from 5 yards to put a deserved gloss on the final scoreline and allow Leith to walk away with a 34-10 victory and a bonus point to take back to Academy Park.

The 2s now face a tricky trip Corstorphine 2ndXV next weekend as they look to consolidate their lofty position in the East Region Reserve 2 league.

Leith 2ndXV 34
Tries: A Barr x2, M Rea x2, R Stitt, K Aitchison
Conversions: Tuft x2
Thebans 10

Man of the match: Felix Palin
DOTD: Reece Barclay