2nd Half Capitulation Costs Leith

After a couple of weeks away from rugby due to the 6 Nations and weather, Leith headed to Cavalry Park to take on the East Bowl winners and promotion chasing Portobello. After a horror showing in Hawick, Leith were desperate to make up for a poor performance and get their first elusive win in the 2nd half of the league.

Leith kicked off and after a first few minutes of scrappy play were on the back foot as Portobello laid siege to the Leith line, however Leith’s defensive effort was a determined one. Porty were struggling to break down Leith in the middle of the pitch, there were big tackles going in from Doug Watters and Andy Homer in the centre while the back row of Fraser Forsyth, Luke McKinney, Craig Winton and latterly, Paul Haggon were buzzing about the park. Portobello were unable to breach the line and took an opportunity at goal which saw the kick cannon off the upright back into the attackers hands. Leith again were able to deal with the threat and clear their lines.

So it was somewhat against the run of play when from a scrum in the Leith half, that number 8, McMcKinney picked and popped to scrum half Andrew Paterson, who was able to draw the attention of two defenders before releasing winger Ross Marwick to blaze a trail of destruction down the right wing and finish strongly in the corner. Kenny Dannfald added the extras from out wide to give Leith the lead. The lead however wasn’t to last long as the game entered a bit of a tit for tat phase with Porty able to hit back after making the numbers count after a number of phases in possession of the ball. However, just like their opponents Leith were looking to get back on the front foot almost immediately. Some good hands allowed winger Andy Barr to feed Jon Derrin who burst into the 22m wide on the left hand side of the pitch, some quick recycling and Leith had men free on the far right. Leith were able to use their hands effectively as it travelled from one side of the pitch to the other including through the front row union of Stuart Wilson, Choo Lawrie and finally Bruce Connelly who gave the scoring pass to Marwick.

Porty however were once again to hit back after a few minutes of attack which brought the score to 14-12 in their favour but with less than 10 minutes to go in the half Leith were once again to have their say. In a set up much like the first Leith try, winger Marwick was able to cause the Portobello defence problems but this time pop the ball off to the on rushing Paterson who skipped by a few defenders and was able to get the ball over the line. The script would have been for the home team to hit back again and level it up before half time, however it was the visitors who were to extend their lead. As Portobello pushed forward in attack a loose pass was seized upon by Dannfald who was able to run the ball up to the half way line before threading a kick infield towards the try line. On rushing replacement flanker Grant Aitken outpaced the covering defence, getting a hand to the ball before anyone else could. Taking Leith to a bonus point and a 24-14 lead.

Portobello started the second half but unfortunately Leith did not. The second half concession of 53 unanswered points is unacceptable and down to a combination of lack of belief, poor defensive organisation and to their credit an increased directness from the home team. Fleetingly Leith did come close to the try line with passages of good play, however in one period of pressure during the 2nd half the ball was shipped wide with numbers up only for the pass to be intercepted and the Portobello winger to go 80ms, which summed up the half.

The final whistle went with Leith going 67-24. This is a building process for Leith Rugby and we are looking ahead to the next season and challenges which await us. The players are determined and will take lessons from each match they play, this season aspects of Leith’s play has improved immensely and continues to do so, players, coaches and management will now be extending their efforts even further to ensure the consistency and mental toughness is there for the future.

Tries – Ross Marwick (2), Andrew Paterson, Grant Aitken
Conversions – Kenny Dannfald (2)
Serrano Manchego MOTM – Ross Marwick