Saturday 30th saw Leith open up their BT East Division 2 and in a quirk of fate, born of the decision to reverse 2013/14’s fixtures to populate this season’s schedules, the fixture saw the same opening day opponents as last year in Lismore RFC, and an early return for former Head Coach, Eric Jones.

In front of a large crowd, swelled considerably by the travelling support from South Edinburgh, the game began scrappily, with the tension brought about by the return to competitive action perhaps contributing to the lack of cohesion on both sides. It wasn’t until 10 minutes into the game that the Leith pack, having been put under pressure in the first couple of scrums, turned the tables and won a ball against the head, and after Doug Watters set up play in the midfield, Blair Skipper used the quick ruck ball to hit Craig Smith who got outside his opposing 13, fed Kenny Dannfald, who drew his opposite fullback, before passing back inside to Smith who crossed out wide.

Leith then built pressure in the Lismore half, attacking wide and the visiting right-winger stopped an almost certain try with what the referee saw as a deliberate knock-on, and received a yellow card. Lismore battled well for most of the time spent with 14, but Smith was back on the score sheet just before it expired, when off a Lismore scrum, he intercepted his opposite man’s pass, as he was hit by Watters. Smith ran in under the posts from 60 yards for the type of try he loves.

By this point the Leith pack had well and truly exerted their dominance at scrum time, and with two visiting front rows leaving the field, the game unfortunately had to revert to unopposed scrums, robbing the game of some of its physicality, and making it difficult (for either side) to get go-forward ball. Nevertheless the first half scoring continued, and it was through another error that Leith notched up their third try. Standoff Blair Skipper put in a long kick for touch, which landed near the line but bounced in-field and continued towards the posts, the visiting fullback missing the ball before picking it up behind the posts and being clattered by the chasing Ross Kilgour.
Also chasing well was prop Craig Winton, who touched down on the dropping ball for the easiest try he’ll ever score. Leith then ensured at least the bonus point before half-time when a set piece move off the back of the scrum base saw the backs put it through the hands for Ben Wilkinson to finish strongly in the corner.

Leith knew Lismore would throw everything at the home side at the start of the second half, and with the wind at their backs, so it ensued. After conceding several penalties near the tryline, and probably being fortunate not to receive a yellow card, Leith’s impressive commitment to keeping the visitors at bay was finally overcome, and from a tap penalty, Lismore’s second row barged over.
Leith responded well, and regained their territorial and possession advantage, working through phases in the Lismore half, eventually resulting in a second yellow card for the visitors as their flanker, coming in at the side of a ruck, kicked the ball out of the hands of Watters as he sought to hit his backs on a 4v2 overlap. The pressure continued to tell as after the forwards did all the hard-work rolling through several phases in the opposing 22, Skipper through a long pass to Smith who completed a his hat trick, going in near the posts. Late in the game winger Joe Nakavulevu showed all of his impressive running power to create Leith’s final try, breaking out down the blindside from deep inside his own 22, and evading multiple tackles before popping to supporting blindside Pete Mitchell who fed Smith to gas the fullback from half-way for his fourth try of the game.

All in all a good first outing from the Leithers, but much still to work on in attack, with some sloppy finishing preventing a more clinical scoreline. We wish Lismore all the best for the rest of the season, and look forward to our return encounters in both the league and cup in November.

Final Score - Leith 38 - 5 Lismore

Scoring
Tries – Craig Smith (4), Craig Winton, Ben Wilkinson
Conversions – Doug Watters (4)
Man of the match – Kenny Dannfald

Leith Team
1 Robert Stitt, 2 Willie Cook, 3 Paul Allison, 4 Neil Paterson, 5 Ben Place, 6 Doddie McHardy, 7 Greg Hancock, 8 Mark Phillips (Capt.);
9 Ryan Burgess, 10 Blair Skipper, 11 Ross Kilgour, 12 Doug Watters, 13 Craig Smith, 14 Ben Wilkinson, 15 Kenny Dannfald (V.Capt.);
16 Craig Winton, 17 Stuart Fox, 18 Joe Nakavulevu, 19 Pete Mitchell, 20 Russell Smith, 21 Fraser Ross, 22 David Meadows.

Lismore Team
1- Craig Hammon 2- Neil Dick 3- Harry Meadows 4- Chris Gilmore 5- Stuart Hope 6- Josh Moatt (Capt.) 7- Robert McKenzie 8- John Grant;
9- Graham Hepburn 10- Will McColl 11- Liam Sweeney 12- Fraser Borland 13- Mark Lane 14- Andy Hamilton 15- Alex Ferguson;16- Ronnie Watson 17- Liam Brown 18- Paul Sanderson 19- Euan Murray 20- Graham Pardoe 21- Adam Croy 22- Andy Dick