Corstorphine 2XV 64 - 5 Leith 2XV

Leith 2XV vs Corstorphine - report by Will Tuft

‘A warrior must only take care that his spirit is never broken’

When, in 1731, Confucian scholar Miwa Shissai stated this, it is clear that he was referring to the Leith 2XV that faced Corstorphine Cougars at Union Park on 23rd February 2019.

As twenty two of Leith’s finest combatants huddled around interim team manager Thomas ‘Choo’ Lawrie in the early afternoon sun of a mild February afternoon, thoughts were not on the 64-5 humbling at the hands of a strong and well supported Cougars side. Neither were they on the possibility of a Scottish loss to a resurgent French side in Paris. Thoughts were not even on how enjoyable an English loss in Cardiff could be. Thoughts and words resonated around the visibly battered and bruised men about a second half where tackles were made, bodies were thrown down in defence and battering rams of humanity forced their way over gain lines.

This report could refer to the Corstorphine tries, which started two minutes into the game, punctuated the eighty plus minutes and then bookended the match with a final touch under the posts but it will not. This report will focus on the stories that will be told to any new members of the club, existing members and anyone who enters into a conversation with Conor Kerr.

Those stories might not be as glamorous as a bonus point victory but they will tell tales of Shaun Guesford making up 40 yards to haul down a locomotive of an opposition winger ten yards from the line, Felix Palin using so much leg drive it was not clear if he realised he was on a pitch rather than squatting 200 kg and man of the match Matt Rea taking so much crash ball that his middle name is now Umaga.

But as with any report, the Leith tries are the most important aspect of the game and the solitary score was a doozy. A highly effective line out, a feature of proceedings throughout the game, was claimed by the effervescent Ben Place, who makes Salmon look like amateurs in the world of leaping, followed by a distributive long range pass from the eternally sniping Robert Grindley to a delicately footed Captain Guesford. As all good flankers are, Andy Barr was on the 10s shoulder to collect a floated pass and break two despairing tackles before giving the ball to Will Tuft who wriggled free, octopus like, of his opposite number to provide a overhand basketball pass to the looping Guesford who dotted down on the fifteen metre line. Although the extras were not added, the second half objective of getting on the scoreboard was achieved. The secondary objective to fight to the end of the game was somewhat more of a battle but the fighters from Academy Park persevered nonetheless.

Tackles had to be made on an increasingly frequent basis and every yard had to be worked for to break a highly competent Cougars defensive effort. Sam Davies, returning after growing a ‘moustache’, Stephen Baker, Sean Bates, Palin and Place carried in double figures and were constantly a threat going forward, squeezing every yard out of each movement and never taking a backwards step. Willie Cook, Robert Stitt and Conor Kerr were a referee’s nightmare at the breakdown, applying pressure in areas that very few even tread and held up a consistently strong scrum effort.

As the vast open expanses of a surprisingly firm track in the West allowed the home side to throw the ball around, the backs, marshalled by Guesford, produced a sterling effort to make first up tackles, with Dave Keogh, debutant Job Sanderman and Lex Dunko throwing themselves at anything that moved. The latter, supported by Pete Duncan and George Easdon, were able to capitalise on some wayward kicking to offer a lesson in mazy running and in the case of Easdon, the ability to bounce someone off using only thighs that would make a Russian weightlifter blush.

As the game drew to its conclusion, and the ball in play time creeped up and up, it was clear that every Leith warrior, strewn across the pitch and the sideline like a war zone, had put in a shift worthy of the bruises and exhaustion they were now feeling. Kerr summarised the feelings of those watching and playing as he summarised the performance in his post-match interview “that performance sums up everything about playing for this team. We never give up. It was a pleasure taking the field”.

All stories have an ending, and mostly, they are a little disappointing. This one’s was 64-5 to the hosts. But the intervening chapters were far more interesting.

The 2XV now embark on a tricky run of fixtures starting with the visit of Edinburgh Accies 3XV to Academy Park next Saturday.

Leith: Palin, Cook, Stitt, Davies, Place, Bates, Barr, Baker; Grindley, Guesford (c), Rea, Derrin, Tuft, Easdon, Dunko. [Reps: Kes, Keogh, Kerr, Coyle, Sanderman, Duncan, Trujillo]

Try: Guesford
MOTM: Rea