Leith do double over Cougars

Following an opening day victory at Academy Park against Corstorphine, Leith had the chance to do the double over the team who came down from East League 1 last year.
It was a bright and bluster day as Leith kicked off and immediately had the chance to put pressure on Corstorphine as they knocked on when trying to exit their 22m but Leith were unable to make them pay from the resulting scrum. The game ebbed and flowed between both teams trying to established a foothold of dominance in the game. It was indeed the hosts who had the best of the early position, but the attack did not cause Leith too many issues as they were able to repel the attack with organised defence.
With that Leith were growing with more confidence into the game. Despite a missed penalty attempt from Dannfald, they were starting to work into a structure and game plan which was putting the hosts under pressure. Simple and slick handling from the back line saw Tomek, race down the left touchline, only to be bundled into touch 10ms out. However it wasn’t long before Leith would take one of the opportunities when again crisp pacing see us exploit the wide channels and quick ball from the resulting ruck and offloads saw Craig Winton give the pass to Andrew Paterson who was able to race round the front row he found in front of him.
The Leithers didn’t have to wait too long for the next try as following a good line out steal from Liam Wilkinson allowed the pressure to be kept on the home team as we worked into the 22m. Again the ball found itself to Craig Winton who gave a sumptuous delayed pass which allowed full back Andrew Baxter to burst through the line and beat a couple of defenders to make it to the line. Conversion good on the stroke of made the score 14-0.
Leith wanted to kick on in the 2nd half and secure the victory before thinking about the bonus point. Much like in the first half they were called on to defend in the initial forays as both teams gave away a couple of penalties which saw the game played between the 22ms. Just as the game was becoming a bit scrappy Leith again began building upon their structure which saw prop Stuart Wilson burst through a wide gap and out paced their 9 from 50meters towards the line, with the covering full back, he was unable to make it but passed inside to Kaihe who rushed under the sticks.
It would be that combo which would be involved in Leith’s bonus point try. After pushing Corstorphine off their own ball in the scrum the backs were able to go wide quickly. Kaihe was able to make a break on the outside before interlinking with fellow centre Craig Williamson a number of time getting tackled just short of the line. MacNamara had the simple task of hitting Wilson on a hard line as the Prop hit through the gap and went under the posts. 28-0 to Leith with 20 to go and Leith would have been expected to kick on and score a couple more tries but skills and poor decision making saw that scuppered, in fact a lack of concentration say Corstorphine run in for a couple of tries of their own which was disappoint way to end the game.
Overall a good victory, which sees Leith head to the top of the league. Plenty for the squad to work on as they look forward to the visit of Gala YM at the weekend which will prove to be another tough encounter at Academy Park.