Leith notch up another win on the road

As Leith arrived at Inverleith park for another important East 2 game against Edinburgh Northern, the heavens opened and it looked like it would be a game for the purists with limited opportunities for the backs to get involved. However just as the game kicked off, brighter conditions arrived, and the chances of a more expansive game increased - and so it was to be.

The first half was a rather tight and cagey affair with Northern enjoying the majority of the possession but with Leith making the greater strides with the possession that they were afforded, so not an inch was given. Leith drew first blood in the game as Northern committed a infringement around the ruck which gave Kenny Dannfald the simple opportunity for the games first 3 points. The kickoff then gave Northern the opportunity to attack Leith and keep notching the pressure in the tight areas of the game, the pressure eventually told as Northern crashed over from a few metres out.

The hosts had the upper hands in the scrums and the momentum in the game and it looked like Leith may face an uphill battle to stay in the game. However Leith were able to pounce to really knock the stuffing out of the home side. From a Northern line out in their own 22 the Leith jumpers were able to disrupt the jump just enough to ensure that there was not clean ball for the Northern 9. He missed the ball and the on rushing David Meadows welcomed it into his arms as he went over the whitewash for his 2nd try in 2 games. Dannfald converted to bring the half time score to 7-10 to the visiting team.

Leith knew that they had the beating of their opposition in many areas of the park and just needed to achieve parity at set piece to exploit these weaknesses and after half time the forwards were able to do exactly this which gave Leith an excellent opportunity. Soon after half time good scrum ball allowed the backs to fire some quick hands down the line which allowed full back Dannfald to hit centre Doug Watters on the loop who drew the last man and passed to the on rushing Craig Smith to dot down.

Leith didn't have to wait too long for their next try and it was a similar scenario as slick hands in the backs released Smith down the right who chipped ahead and as the bounce evaded the covering Northern players, his fellow winger Toban Hunt, who had come inside to support play, to gather and score in the corner. Leith were starting to get control of the game, racing into an early 20-7 2nd half lead, but they wern't finished there and it wasnt all going to be the backs on the scoresheet in the 2nd half! First of all after good work by Pete Mitchell and Eoin Murphy in the middle of the park Leith were able to get front foot ball which again was moved out to the wide channels quickly where Danfnald was able to flick the pass to flanker Grant Aitken who ran in from the 22m to score Leith's bonus point try.

Northern did hit back with a try of their own to remind the away side that this game was far from over as their were a lot of minutes still left on the clock. However Leith were looking good every time they went forward with the ball, making yards and stretching the Northern defence at every opportunity. This gave hooker Craig Winton the chance to burst through a gap and threw the pass wide to winger Hunt who surged deep into the opposition 22m, he was downed just short of the line however, Winton followed up his pass and was first to the breakdown which allowed him to pick the ball from the break down and get over the line from a couple of meters out.

Leith were looking comfortable in attack and defence and with around 10 minutes to go the game looked sewn up, however a few lapses in concentration allowed the Northern winger to cross the line to make the last few minutes a bit more interesting even though Leith were 10 points to the good. But once again the Leith team wern't quite finished their as the pattern of the previous 79 mins followed suit, Leith we given good front foot ball by the forwards which gave Dannfald the chance give Julian Mpofu the chance to dance down the touch line and over the line in the games last play. Full time score Northern 24 - 41 Leith

Overall it was a decnt Leith performances, each player stood up and looked to be counted which is what brought the team through. There is still plenty to work on as lapses in concentration will be punished greater against a more on song opposition. Next week sees a tough trip across the city to Double Hedges to face a team that are fighting for the survival in Liberton so Leith will be preparing fully for that game. Man of the match was a very tough decision with great performances from everyone on the pitch, however it goes to Paul Haggon who was his usual nuisance self thwarting opposition attacks and putting in a lot of work around the pitch. This was also Paul's final game for Leith (gets him some more points!!) as he moves over Saudi for work for a few years, so a big good luck from all at the club to Paul.

Tries - Meadows, Smith, Hunt, Aitken, Winton, Mpofu
Convs - Dannfald (4)
Pens - Dannfald