Leith fall short in 19 try epic

After a couple of weekends without a game, the 1st XV travelled to Hallhill to take on Dunbar in the quarter final of the Edinburgh Regional Shield. Despite Leith being on a mini losing streak the team were in a fairly confident mood leading up to the match, as our higher league visitors had not managed a victory in their last six. In the end though, it was a fairly patched up Leith team that took the field as several key members were missing with injury, sickness or unavailable, meaning Leith travelled to Dunbar with a squad of only 16. In fact it wasn’t just the team that was patch up, 2 incapacitated coaches, a Club President who was with the Argentina team and the rest back at the ranch meant that Physio Gemma Donahoe and injured prop Conor Kerr were lonely figures on the Leith touchline.

Despite all of this, Leith got the game going with the low sun at their backs on what must be one of the most pristine pitches in Scotland, and the early signs were encouraging. As Dunbar attempted to put phases together a determined Leith defence knocked them backwards until the home side eventually coughed up the ball. This allowed Leith to start to have a go at the Dunbar defence and some quick play allowed the likes of Toby Kirkwood, Mike McLeish, Luke McKinney make hard yards in the forwards and Doug Watters and Eoin Murphy start to make breaks in the backs. Leith were knocking on the door and after a quick penalty was taken the ball was spun to Kenny Dannfald who was able to burst over the line for the first score of the game in the corner, the captain converted his own try. Dunbar would come straight back at the home team and after a penalty was coughed up, the home team were able to put some quick phases together and score in the opposite corner. The kick was missed but from the kick off Dunbar were taking it right back to the Leithers and were able to put a score together which disappointed the away defence. 10 – 7 to the home team.

Despite this setback, Leith were not going to let it get to them and to their credit, stuck to the game plan and continued to play rugby.The Dunbar defence was becoming more fragile and gaps were starting to appear for the Leithers to run through and gain ground. After a couple of penalties were conceded in the 22m Leith were getting closer and closer and from 5ms out scrum half Andrew Paterson was able to snipe over the line for his first of the game. This is where the game started to get a wee bit mental….. With 4 tries in the opening 16 minutes it was clear that with both teams using the ball and playing it wide there would be some scores in the game but the Leith team started to pull away from their hosts. A double from Luke McKinney, and Paterson grabbing his 2nd before there were first tries for the club from Javier Hervas, linking up with fellow Spanish compatriot Marcos Teixiera, and Andy Homer, all as a result of being able to recycle the ball quickly and play the ball through the hands for scores in the corners. In amongst this glut of tries, Dunbar were able to hit back with one of their own which brought the half time score to 41-17 in favour of the Academy Park men.

Leith were perhaps in the unusual and unexpected position of being in such a commanding lead at half time, but the message was just to keep doing the same as we have been doing in the first half and the rewards would come the visiting teams way. However after a reshuffle in the backline due to the withdrawal due to injury of the influential Paterson and a further reshuffle to the backline as Eoin Murphy paid the price for the teams indiscipline and headed for a 10 minute rest. Leith battled bravely in defence but eventually some powerful running was to much to take for the Leith defence and the Dunbar 8 crossed the whitewash. This opened up the floodgates a little as Leith were unable to get their hands on the ball at all and the Dunbar team were being ruthless in their attack, this allowed the home team to score a further 24 points without reply which meant the cost of this poor start to the home team was scoreline of 48-41 and a momentum swing back to the home team.

The return of Murphy and some stern words and a reminder that Leith were more than in this game under the posts signalled a mini revival for the Leithers. The game became a tad more open than it had been and Leith were beginning to work their way back into the game as they were in the first half. However our hosts would strike again before Leith were able to get on the scoreboard for the first time in the 2nd half and number 8 McKinney crashed over the top of a few helpless defenders for his hat trick score, proving that the game was still on! The scoring wasn’t done yet, as Leith pressed for a further try that would get them back into the game, Dunbar were able to break away and score what would prove to be the winning try. Leith had the final say however, as Doug Watters was able to crash over from a quick tap 5ms out for the last score of the game as the away side continued to persevere deep into injury time.

Final score – Dunbar 60 – 53 Leith

Overall it was hugely disappointing to lose in the manner we did from the position of ascendency we found ourselves in at the start of the 2nd half. However the Leith team and wider squad will take great experience from the game and heart that they were able to more than compete with a team that is mid table in the league above. The first half showed the standards that can be reached when we play to our full ability and we look to take this in to the rest of our league campaign.

Tries – McKinney (3), Paterson (2), Dannfald, Homer, Hervas, Watters
Conversions – Dannfald (4)
Man of the Match - McKinney