Dunbar RFC 19 - 29 Leith Rugby

Match Report by Nick Andrews

Leith’s last visit to Dunbar came only a fortnight ago. A tough loss in the league cup saw Leith fall to the East Lothian outfit for the third consecutive time. In that game Leith believed they had figured out how to beat Dunbar, albeit too late on the day, and had hoped that the next fixture would go their way.

Coach Kev picked a strong and bulky forward pack and a back line of size, agility and speed. The boys arrived at the ground during the most horrendous weather conditions. The rain was howling down and the turf was soaked. Thankfully, the facilities at Dunbar are some of the best in the wider Edinburgh area. Where many pitches would be flooded, this pitch was holding strong and the game would indeed go ahead.

The day started off with a hiccup for the boys in blue, as their blue jerseys were not picked up at the clubhouse. The bulk of the team had arrived in Dunbar and had to wait, stretch and begin to warm up in the dressing room before President Jim Smith arrived with the kit. With the kit on and the players ready to head outside, there was 30 minutes to kick off. Coach Kevin usually employs at least an hour for warm up but this situation added a little haste to the boys. A short, but intense, warm up later had the match kicking off.

The miserable conditions would play a huge part on the early stages of the match. Both teams sharing possession and both sharing handling errors. Leith missed a penalty at the sticks early.

Dunbar had some of their regular players playing out of position, notably one of their mobile back row at inside centre. Despite being a handy player, the Leith attack exploited the inexperience of the defender operating at 12. A lovely delayed pass behind Josh Campey from Ross Johnston sent Nick Andrews through the centres. Nick didn’t have the gas last week, but this week he charged up the field. He drew the last defender and played the ball back inside to Kenny Dannfald to charged towards the line, only to be brought down short. Leith were able to keep applying pressure in the Dunbar territory. The ball was kicked through and Josh was able to grabber it on further and touch down for the try after 18 minutes. Ross made the conversion. Leith 7-0.

Leith were controlling the game exceptionally at this stage. Dunbar were unable to break through the defensive wall and Ross Johnson was keeping Dunbar back in their own half. It wasn’t before long that Ritchie was able to cross the whitewash for Leith’s second of the day. Another good conversion for Ross. Leith 14-0.

Leith were able to get straight back down into the Dunbar 22 and found themselves with a scrum on the 5m line. Scrum Half David Somerville sniped from the back and was tackled just short. The forwards took control and began clawing their way in field towards the posts. Somerville with another snipe fell short but Captain Jamie Drummond was on hand to cross the line in the next effort. Ross added the extras. 21-0. The previous three fixtures against Dunbar had Leith trailing by a wide margin early, so this scoreline was a refreshing change for the men from Edinburgh.

Half Time

It didn’t take long into the second half for Leith to secure their bonus point. The backs were stretching the Dunbar defence and the forwards were running hard lines through the middle. Ross send a lovely chip over the winger and Andrew Paterson was on hand to score the try after 45 minutes. Ross was just short with the touch line conversion. Leith 26-0.

From this point on, ill discipline became the order of the day for Leith. Penalties from every aspect of the game kept Dunbar gaining yards. Greg Jackson was sent to the bin minutes after coming on the field. Dunbar got their first score from a quick tap penalty by the scrum half. Leith 26-7.

Dunbar would score again not long after. A result of more ill discipline from the Leith scrum. Leith 26-14.

Ross kicked a penalty in front of the sticks with 5 minutes to go to increase the score to 29-14.

Dunbar scored their 3rd of the day out wide with 2 minutes to go. From the kick off they ran hard and began to push the Leith defence backwards. Dunbar were, again, awarded a penalty. This would be the last play of the game. The Dunbar kicker hammered the ball down field and hit Kenny Dannfald in the chest before flying into touch. The referee deemed that as the end of the game and Leith held on for a well fought victory.

A tale of two halves in the most brutal weather conditions. Dunbar will make a visit to Academy Park towards the end of the season where Leith will hope to win consecutive games again a side that has caused them so many problems in the past.

Leith welcome local side Inverleith next week as the half way point during the season is reached.