What was originally scheduled to be Leith's first league game of the season, ended up being the last game of the year as the previous encounter was cancelled at the last moment due to the illness of the referee. Leith took to the YM pitch with a few personnel changes from last weeks victory in Earlston, with Craig Winton, Toby Kirkwood and Ollie Main returning to the pack, whilst David Robertson and Craig Smith were in the backs after long absences. Doug Watters took the stand off jersey for the 2nd time this year whilst the peerless Keith Aitchison came in at the number 8 berth.

Leith kicked off, however allowed Gala to set the tempo as a few tackles were missed allowing the home team to drive into the Leith half and get field position. The Leith defence was holding firm and not allowing the Gala attack through. Leith did have a few opportunities to break out of defence through Robertson and Smith however the final pass did not go hand and Leith were back under pressure. YM did score the first points of the game however it was restricted to a 3 point penalty goal. This did kick Leith into life though as they started to respond and put some phases of attack together, from around 40 metres out Smith made a break on the outside and was able to beat his man, out pacing the covering defence he simply slipped the ball to winger Robertson as the full back approached. Conversion was missed leaving the score at 5-3.

Leith were determined to get back up the other end of the field and the forwards were making a good job of making this happen. Thomas Lawrie, Mike McLeish and Main were all making the hard yards before Andy Barr went close after he combined with Kenny Dannfald and Robertson, before getting hauled down 2 metres short of the line. Leith were able to keep Gala YM pinned within their 22m with some good defence, this did eventually lead to the ball being turned over and after a Leith scrum deep in the 22m, from this platform it only took Watters to feed the ball to centre Andy Homer who jinked inside his man and powered his way over for the try. 12-3 to Leith with around 15 to go in the half.

Leith wern't finished in the half yet, a break by Dannfald inside his own half lead him to beating a couple of defenders, however with the cover defenders closing in he threaded a neat kick ahead to the onrushing Smith who outpaced the defence for his first of the day. As the conversion was missed it made the halftime score 17-3 to the Academy Park men. Much like last week the boys were encouraged to keep the game going and kill the home team's effort off early in the 2nd half.

However sometimes Leith like to do things the hard way and after Gala YM were able to turn the ball over straight from the kick off inside the 22m. This put Leith on the back foot immediately and invited Gala YM to attack the away sides line. The Leith defence was standing tough however the pressure was unable to be cleared allowing Gala to cross for a score. There was further peril from the resulting kick off as their 8 found a gap in the line and charged down field, his supporting player was eventually hauled down in the 22m but Leith were back on the back foot again. A series of YM scrums and penalties was really testing the defence however there was some big tackles being put in particularly from Fraser Forsyth and Aitchison which was keeping their 8 from crashing over the line. However there was a stoppage as winger Barr and Aitchison had a nasty clash of heads as they went to tackle the same player, so both players were retired for the day. After Forsyth and Bruce Connelly and then Dannfald held up and efforts over the line from Gala the defence though it had done its job keeping the home team out for around 15 minutes, However it did all come to much as Gala eventually crashed over out wide.

Leith really had to get back on track, now leading only 17-13, and the next score was going to be crucial. Luckily for the Leithers it would be them who got the score. Leith were playing rugby in the right areas and starting to put the the Gala YM defence under pressure going down the small slope. The ball moved out to the backs who put it through the hands, Number 8 Forsyth, popped up outside Smith and he gave the ball to Dannfald who was able to break through the defence and running over the white wash. Leith were then able to get another in a similar position, after Leith got their hands on the ball deep inside the Gala red zone after a rumbling drive from the forwards, the ball came to Watters from scrum half George Forrest, who was able to dummy his way past the first defender and finish from 10 metres out.

With the score at 27-13, Leith thought the game was out of sight, however with 10 minutes to play, Leith let YM back into the game after a miscommunication in the centres allow their stand off to break through and dot down, the score was converted meaning their was one score in it. However Leith wern't going to push the panic button and kept to playing their game, and similar to Leith's first try of the game, Smith got the ball in the wide channels and was able to get beyond his man, this time he was able to jink past the covering defender and touch down under the posts and with conversion brought us the full time score of 34-20.

Overall it was good to get the bonus point victory once again on our travels in the Borders. It was by no means a polished performance for the Leithers but the job that they set out to do was completed. The team now set their sights on Dalkeith as they push to overtake Edinburgh Northern in the fight for the 6th spot in the league. Their were several good performances all over the pitch Aitchison and Main in the forwards whilst Smith, Watters and Forrest were good in the backs. However this week's man of the match goes to Fraser Forsyth who played out of position but his tireless work ethic in defence and attack was just above all others!

Tries - Smith (2), Robertson, Homer, Dannfald, Watters
Convs - Dannfald (2)
Serrano Manchego MOTM - Fraser Forsyth