Livingston 20 - 29 Leith

Match report by Nick Andrews

As August ended, competitive rugby returned! The order of the day on Saturday was knockout rugby, and as the BT Edinburgh Shield ended in the first round for Leith last year after a tightly fought battle against rivals Trinity, Leith were looking to proceed further this year.

The team travelled the short way along the M8 to face Livingston, who having been relegated from East 1 in April join Leith in East 2 for what would prove an exciting battle, particularly for Coach Kev who was a coach at Livingston Rugby once upon a time.

Despite the breeze, the conditions were ideal for a late summer game of rugby. Coach had evaluated his squad after the pre-season games and picked a strong squad, even with around 20 players unavailable. The impressive youngsters, Ruari and Max retained their spots on the wing with the constant threat of Andrew Baxter at full back in between, while Doug Watters and newly married Craig McKenzie-Smithpartnered up in the centres. Nick Andrews and Ross Johnston made up the rest of the backline in the halfback positions. Bruce Connelly, Ritchie Marshall and Ivan Acosta made up the front row with captain for the day PC Paterson and Fraser Forsyth suiting up in the second row. Two Spaniards and an Ulsterman made up the back row with Marcos Teixeira, Alan Pardo and Scott McAteer with the task of charging at the opposition fly half.

Leith got proceedings underway with a strong kick off. Livingston gathered the ball and tried to get their forwards making some hard carries. Livingston were showing intent by throwing some hard runners at the Leith defence, to no avail. The referee awarded Leith a penalty in front the posts for holding on. Ross Johnston stepped up and kicked the goal. Leith 3-0.

Livingston kicked off deep and Leith failed the gather the ball cleanly resulting in Andrews making a tackle as the ball was collected by the Livingston player. Andrews was unable to roll away and the referee penalised him. Livingston kicked for the corner. The resulting lineout was costly for the home side as their Number 8 landed on the ground having won the ball he cried out in agony and collapsed to the floor. The physios ran on and unfortunately, he had to leave the field for the duration of the game. Livingston were given a scrum just out from the Leith 5m line. The ball was thrown the backs and into the middle of the pitch. A few forward carries later and they were sniffing the Leith try line. The Livingston scrum half picked the ball up from the ruck and save a slight gap in the Leith defence and managed to get the ball on the line for the score. The conversion attempt was successful. Livingston 7-3.

Leith kicked off and almost immediately Craig McKenzie-Smith was down in agony having taken a nasty knock while competing for the ball in a ruck. This wasn’t a surprise as Craig is made of glass but still horrible to see. He unfortunately dislocated his shoulder and also had to face the wrath of his new wife, not a good day for Craig. Debutant Josh Campey came on to replace Craig. Leith passed on the opportunity of 3 points and opted for a scrum which proved to backfire as Livingston won the ball and mounted an attack down the short side. The first half was riddled with bad handling and some dodgy lineout play from both sides. It was a near impossible task to hold onto possession.

Livingston found their way into Leith’s half and were award a penalty for a high tackle. This was to become an unfortunate trend for Leith throughout the game. Livingston took the 3 points and went ahead 10-3.

Livingston found themselves back in the same position moments later and were awarded another penalty in front of the posts. Leith unfortunately lost Andrew Baxter to a shoulder and head injury due to an off the ball incident which resulted in a reshuffling of the backline for Leith. Livingston converted their Penalty. Livingston 13-3.

Ross kicked off again and Leith managed to keep Livingston down in their own half. A few more handling errors and scrums later, Leith found themselves on the 22m line with Watters carrying strongly. Quick ball was presented and Andrews was able to get the ball to Johnston who proceeded to ship the ball out until it was in the hands of debutant Campey who superbly dummied the winger and charged towards the line and scored a wonderful solo effort. A strong run and try on debut! Conversion was unsuccessful, but it was windy so I’ll let him off. After 25 minutes the score was Livingston 13-8.

The next 15 minutes showed some strong attacking intent from Leith as well as some excellent defensive work. The next score would come on the stroke of half time. The ball was played from the ruck and into the hands of Texeira. Marcos shrugged off the option of passing the ball, despite the multiple orders of “Pass the bloody ball, Marcos!” from Andrews, and he ran sideways for 20m brushing off all defenders within reach before straightening up and charging through one defender and straight for the line. “Don’t pass it Marcos” was heard on the field as Marcos fell over the line for the score. Johnston converted the try to make the score Leith 15-13 at the half.

Leith were playing into the sun in the 2nd half but that wouldn’t affect the boys in blue. A similar pattern to the first half ensued with various handling errors, multiple scrums and multiple trips on the field for the medical staff.

Livingston couldn’t string the phases together and the Leith defence had not allowed them much ground either. Leith grinded their way into the Livi 22 and managed to get the ball through the hands. Watters, despite having moved to fullback, stepped up to receive the ball in his favourite centre channel and stepped inside the first defender before handing off the covering scrum half and diving over to score Leith’s third try of the day! Johnston converted the score and made it Leith 22-13.

Not long after Leith found themselves on the score sheet again. The Livingston defence was up quickly so Johnston sent a wee chip kick across the defence towards the touchline. Ruari Morrison was first to the ball and kicked it along the ground towards the try line. An enthralling race ensued between Ruari and the Livingston back three but the young Leith lad’s big strides and pace gave him the edge and he dived on the ball for the score. The try of the day for Leith. Johnston again successful with his conversion attempt! Leith 29-13.

Leith had to close out the game and the defence was standing tall. Livingston made a half break and Andrews came in and attempted to rip the ball from the Livingston player. He successfully ripped the ball but in the attempt, he made slight contact with the opposition players chin and was again penalised for a high tackle. Leith were able to disrupt the lineout and force a knock on from Livingston. There was some poor management from Andrews at the base of the scrum where the ball was played quickly to Johnston to exit the ball. The Livingston scrum half was up quickly and charged the kick down before his supporting player touch the ball down for the score. Unfortunate for the Leith boys to concede after being the dominant team throughout the second half. Leith 29-20.

The boys worked hard for the remaining time and were in luck when a sneaky lineout attempt from Livingston failed to go 5m and Leith won the scrum. Fraser Forsyth carried the ball into contact and the forwards secured the ball. Andrews cleared the ball into touch, with a shockingly ugly kick, and the game was over. Leith had overcome the Cup demons from last year and progressed into the next round! Final Score Leith 29 – 20, next up Dunbar away in round 2.