George Washington. Abraham Lincoln. Barack Obama. All notable presidents throughout the theatre of history but none matching the presidential qualities found in Jim Smith, the president of Leith Rugby. So it was fitting that the sun shone on President’s Day at Academy Park as the 1st XV welcomed old friends, Trinity Academicals, for a derby that lived up to the pre-match hype in a number of ways.

Off the back of a narrow loss to Hawick Linden the previous week, Leith fielded a strong side and strength was required as Trinity arrived with their usual hefty pack and brought the direct style of rugby for which they are well known. The early exchanges were frantic, as expected in a derby of such ferocity, with both sides eager to play but struggling to string play together and the ball often finding the turf rather than hands. Leith dominated the early possession and they were rewarded when some sublime counterattacking rugby from Craig Smith and Angus Weir saw the former dotting down over the line for the first try of the game. Ross Johnston added the extras.

The deep wound of conceding sparked life into the team in yellow and Trinity kept hold of the ball, putting together some useful phase play. When Leith infringed, Trinity tapped and from the following phase, their stand-off scythed through the defensive line to score. A successful conversion followed. With the scores locked, the intensity between the two sides grew with notable carries from Paul Haggon and Bruce Connelly regularly puncturing the Trinity defence. Leith’s collective defensive pressure was outstanding and Trinity were often forced to kick out of hand. Some dynamic play from the home side followed and this paid off when the electric Angus Weir had too much pace for the Trinity side, scoring Leith’s second try just before half-time. Johnston once again added the extras.

Trinity will have hoped to start the second half brightly, however in the words of Jagger & Richards, you can’t always get what you want and the visitors were rocked when Ross Marwick stormed in for a try in the first minute. Johnston’s third successful conversion made the score 21-7 to Leith. The visiting side showed more promise, carrying hard into the Leith midfield and this led to their second try of the match exploiting space around the side of the ruck. Conversion successful and Trinity were firmly back in the match.

Leith’s defence was put to the test as Trinity grew in confidence but the wall of hoops turned them away time after time. As the clouds gathered above Academy Park, Leith weathered the oncoming storm, holding Trinity up over the line and continuing to tackle everything and anything wearing yellow. Following this period of Trinity possession, the game returned to the frantic style of the opening exchanges and multiple injuries for both teams saw line-ups shuffling more than the boys’ feet when getting dressed down by Big Mo at training.

Leith were starting to regain control of the match and David Somerville took play down the blindside. Support from Ross Johnston and Angus Weir saw play move deep into the Trinity 22. A sublime line from Ritchie Marshall combined with an offload for the gods saw Somerville crossing the line for Leith’s bonus point try. Unfortunately, Marshall was deemed to have pushed a Trinity player in the post-try melee and was shown a yellow card - the only yellow object not being driven into the Academy Park turf. Johnston couldn’t convert on a tough angle so the scores sat at 26-14.

With 14 men on the park, the men of Leith had to manage the closing exchanges carefully. They continued to enjoy some possession and the result was put to rest when, following a sumptuous line-out, Leith spread the ball wide, with Weir putting replacement Shaun Guesford over for his first try of the season. Another tight angle meant no extras were added. Trinity kept hold of the ball well in the dying minutes of the derby, but the day was summed up when Leith’s defensive onslaught forced another Trinity handling error with the referee calling time on an impressive outing for the boys in blue and white. Final score 31-14.