Leith secure draw on big away day

With a number of injuries, unavailable, those not able to travel and some late call offs Leith headed south through the Scottish Borders and on to Langholm for our first league fixture since November with only 17 players available to play. However the squad were delighted to be getting back to playing rugby after such a long lay off due to the weather.

Conditions under foot were soft to say the least making running and scrumming in certain areas difficult, however the game got under way with Leith playing into the wind for the first half. Langholm used this to their advantage as the looked to pin the visitors back into their own have kicking to the corners, and early on they got the desired result. As the ball was stabbed through to the corner, full back Andrew Paterson was unlucky as the ball got caught in the mud as he looked to play the ball out of park, it fell into the hands of the on rushing winger and the try was scored in the corner. Conversion was missed meaning Leith found themselves 5-0.

Leith tried to then assert themselves on the game and play to the their full potential. The coaches got the reaction they were looking for all over the park as the away team started to click and put phases together coming off of a strong set piece. However despite decent possession Leith couldnt break through the hardie Langholm defence and the thorn in the side of Leith all day was some poor discipline which gave the home team the chance for Field position and eventually a successful kick at goal.

Once again Leith reacted and got back to the other end of the pitch and exerted more and more pressure. As Winton, Cook and Kerr demolished the Langholm scrum deep inside their 22m area we expected the penalties to come however whilst that didnt transpire we still had several attempts at their line with Haggon, Winton and Pardo all held up over the line. Eventually we coughed possession and allowed Langholm to clear their lines. Leith were not done yet in the half though and eventually got on the scoreboard. From the base of a scrum Pardo picked and popped it to scrum half Halliday who jinked round one and drew in another and passed to the on rushing Paterson who then skipped past the last defender and crossed the line to score. With the last act of the first half Dannfald missed the conversion meaning the scores were 8-5 to Langholm at the break.

Leith knew that they could step it a few gears and put Langholm to the sword as they now had the wind advantage in the 2nd half. Leith did step it up in the 2nd half as the game became more open, however underfoot conditions started to play their part more as despite Leith trying to use their superior speed to get round the opposition, breaks from Wilkinson, Wardle, Williamson and Paterson were cut short by trips and slips making the last step. Leith did get some reward for their pressure as Dannfald slotted a penalty from around 35ms on the angle to tie the scores.

With around 20 minutes to go the game ebbed and flowed with Leith putting pressure on in the Langholm half of the pitch thanks to some intelligent Wilkinson kicking, however they were unable to get round or through some good defence. The two kickers traded a penalty each before it was Langholms turn to knock on the door of the Leith line. As the game neared its conclusion the Leith defence held strong and eventually with the home team less than a metre out the turn over came and the game was finished at 11 points each.

In the face of adversity the Leith team really stood together and each individual was counted. It is the type of team spirit that will serve us well in the remaining games of the year. Fantastic performances all over the pitch, everyone put there hand up including those who played in positions for the first time, particular thanks to Dave Robertson who travelled down after work for 25 minutes on the pitch. Man of the Match was a very difficult choice this week honourable mentions go to Kerr, McLeish and Paterson to name but a few, however the award goes to Ben Wilkinson for intelligent kicking, control of the game and some cracking breaks through the defence too.

Next week we welcome Inverleith to Academy Park, hope to see a big home crowd game their for the first home game of 2016.

Try - Paterson
Pen - Dannfald (2)