Leith 85 - 0 Kinross

Leith Rugby vs Kinross Rugby – August 17th, 2019
Match Report by Nick Andrews.

Game 3 (but technically game 2 due to a cancelled fixture against Linlithgow) of the pre-season was upon the Leith boys against our friends from (beyond) the kingdom, Kinross.

With their eyes focused on the Cup fixture against Livingston in two week’s time, Head Coach, and club sommelier Kev Greenan wanted to get the team working on all areas of their game throughout this fixture. By god they did.

Someone kicked off to the other team and the game was underway. After 3 minutes Leith ended up with the ball and found themselves with a lineout on the Kinross 22m line. Leith won the ball and some fantastic work from Ritchie Marshall and Fraser Forsyth got the forwards driving towards the line. Quick ball was presented, and Shaun Guesford shipped the ball to Ross ‘Dan Carter’ Johnston at 10. Johnston holds the pass and is able to send Craig Allan through for the score. Allan having a shot at 13 because being an openside flanker just wasn’t exciting enough for him. Johsnton, despite being totally rattled that his flatmate Dave Sommerville wasn’t playing, nailed the conversion. 7-0 to Leith.

9 mins on the clock and Leith win another line out in the Kinross 22. The forwards did more of the grunt work and allowed the backs to work their magic. Johnston takes the ball and wraps around Greg Jackson who has run a strong line, and pops the ball to Andrew Baxter who runs in for the try. Baxter having not won a Leith Rugby award in over a week clearly using this as motivation to up his performances. He was losing the try scoring race to Nick Andrews after all. Unfortunately for Kinross, Baxter did just that. Johnston nails the conversion. 14-0 Leith.

A scrum on 15 minutes allows Guesford to pass to Johnston who manages to get the ball to Baxter thanks to some superb dummy running form the centres. Baxter runs through a few boys like Samu Kerevi did to Beauden Barrett a few weeks ago and scores his second of the day. Johnston kicked the conversion. 21-0 Leith. This ended the first 20.

Kev made some changes at the break. Taking Loch McBeth from the wing and Allan from 13 and putting them in the back row, like a mad man, and bringing on Max Bowman for his senior debut and someone else to play 13.

After 22 mins Leith won another scrum and the quick ball produced allowed Baxter to score his third. Some more strong running lines from the centres created the space for Baxter to exploit the defence. Hat trick for Baxter, Heart attack for Andrews. Another good conversion from Johnston. 28-0.

On 33 minutes the Leith forwards took an opportunity to show off their finesse with some wonderful offloading displays. Kinross were pulled to the touchline before the backs were able to ship the ball to Bowman on the wing to score his first senior try. Good for him. Johnston got the kick. Should be noted it was super windy so good shift from Ross from the tee. 35-0 Leith.

With the clock going red on 40 minutes, a quick tap penalty 10m from the Kinross try line from Allan allowed him to put Toby Kirkwood through a gap that took him within inches of the line. Neil Paterson was on hand to quickly play the ball and get it over the line for another Leith score. No conversion though. Think I jinxed him after the compliment on the last try report? 40-0.

The next score came from a Luke McKinney traditional barn storming run. Leith stole a Kinross lineout and McKinney took the ball and charged over the line from 30m. Johnston makes the conversion. 47-0.

On minute 47, Kinross botched a lineout in Leith territory and Marshall went marauding down the pitch before being tackled on the half way line. Thankfully, as every good scrum half prop does, James Nimmo was on his shoulder and took a pop pass and sprinted to score. It was an unofficial time, but spectators are certain that Nimmo reached a faster speed than Andrew Paterson did during the backs end of season race last year.

10 minutes later, the forwards were doing more grunt work and making great yardage and field position. Their hard work was rewarded...when Baxter crossed for his fourth…

Only three minutes later did the backs find themselves shipping the ball through the hands with the try line in sight. Baxter with his hands on the ball and an eye on a 5th try was racing for the line before selflessly passing to the other Leith debutant Ruari Morrison, who also scored his first senior try.

Baxter was rewarded for his good deed of the day by being on the receiving end of the next phase of play from Leith. A quick tap penalty resulted in an effective attack down the left wing before the quick ball allowed the backs to get the ball back to Baxter who scored in the opposite corner. Five tries for Baxter on the day. FIVE!

On 71 minutes, Leith had a scrum on their own 22. A solid push from the forwards allowed more quick ball. The ball went through the hands of Johnston, Jackson and Bowman, who was able to create space for whoever was outside him to score. It was Baxter, again. Baxter with his 6th try on the day. He has not shut up about it since.

On the 78th minute, Leith were again with a lineout in the Kinross 22. The lineout was won, and the maul was driven over the line and thankfully it wasn’t Baxter who scored, but McBeth, who scored his first try for Leith. Another successful conversion from Johnston. Final score of 85-0 to Leith.

Leith had a plan for each 20 minute period, with the forwards looking to lead the charge at the initial stages of the match and then for the backs to run riot throughout the middle. The forwards took control towards the end and were rewarded with some nice scores of their own. Coach was happy with the effort his squad put into the performance.

Not the result that Kinross would have wanted, but we are forever grateful for them to travel down and give us a game. We wish them the best of luck with their season ahead and hopefully we can have another game against them in the near future at their place.

Leith welcome Bannockburn RFC to Academy park on Friday 23rd for our last game of the pre season before the important cup clash at Livingston. Stay tuned for the report of the Bannockburn game where we will reveal which watch Kev decided to wear on game day.

Match Report written by Nick Andrews, who wasn’t at the game and suffered cardiac arrest writing this report.