Bonus point at Almond Park

Leith, on the back of a convincing win over local rivals Trinity, made the short trip to Livingston with a confident group looking to make it back to back wins for the first time this season. Livingston have been a tough opposition over the past few seasons so the team were fully aware of the physical encounter ahead.

Coach Kev had reshuffled the team slightly with some injuries. Ross Johnston was out so Kenny Dannfald wore the 10 jersey, Gus Weir moves into 13 and Andrew Baxter reclaiming his 15 jersey. Neil Paterson makes his return on the bench and team talisman, Nick Andrews, returns to the squad.

Livingston kicked off and won an early penalty that sent Leith well back into their own half. Livingston took the line out and created a strong maul that sent the Leith pack backwards, fast. The Livi pack made their presence known as they pushed over for a very early score. Leith heads weren’t about to go down that fast though. The Livingston kicker made sure to add the extras. This would be a theme throughout the day as he would be nailing kicks from all over the park.

The next key phase of play started when Livingston produced some quick ball from the ruck. The inside centre took a wee step inside and lost the ball forward. Gus Weir managed to get boot to ball and launch it up field. The covering Livi defender couldn’t clean up the loose ball and Gus got a second touch on it, before being able to pick it up himself. He was brought down in the Livingston 22, but Leith had numbers there and Craig Allan was able to get the ball out quickly. Through the hands, Leith will score in the corner. This is unfortunately not what occurred. An audacious miss pass was attempted along the line and the ball traveled forward. A squandered opportunity for the Edinburgh men. The ball remained in the Livingston 22 and Leith won a crucial penalty that allowed Kenny to find touch just shy of the 5m line. A well taken line out allowed Shaun to get the ball out and along the line and have some strong carries by Ruaridh and Haggon. Kenny switched the direction of play and managed to get a kick away. The ball soared in the air and landed over the try line. No Livi defender close to the ball it was all a matter of which Leither managed to get their hand on it first. Ruaridh was the lucky guy on this occasion and was first to get Leith on the board. Tough conversion from Shaun went wide right.

Leith 5 - 7 Livingston.

Leith were the next to make themselves known. Some strong carrying and retention of possession in the Leith 22 allowed the boys to create some space. Kenny shipped the ball wide and it found the hands of Baxter, who timed his run perfectly and split the defenders. He ran straight up the middle of the park before putting up an ‘unintentional’ Garry Owen kick. Much to his relief, the kick remained in the field of place and landed in Gus’ arms before he outpaced the covering defence to score in the corner. Shaun added the extras.

Leith 12 - 7 Livingston.

It wasn’t long after Gus’ try that Leith was caught napping. Leith stole a lineout on their own 5m line and Ivan carried the ball into contact. The forwards were perhaps a split second too slow in securing the ball as Livingston were able to counter ruck, pick up the ball and fall over the try line to score. The conversion attempt was successful.

Leith 12 - 14 Livingston.

Livingston were keeping themselves in the game through their forward pack to were carrying hard and being very physical. The Leith forwards were working hard to match them.
Livi were looking to play the ball out through their backs however. This was not a good idea. The next score came after the Livingston 12 put through a huge grabber kick. The only issue was that it was blocked and ended up travelling miles in the wrong direction. Gus Weir, was first on the scene and gave the ball a wee tap with the foot before a beautiful pick up to stroll in for his second try of the match. Shaun was unlucky with his touch line conversion.

Leith 19 - 14 Livingston.

Leith were starting to assert their dominance as they put pressure on the Livingston pack. Livingston begin giving away silly penalties that allow Leith to spend plenty of time in their 22.
Leith won a clean ball from the line out. Kenny shipped the ball to his nearest forward, Ruaridh Deeny, who proceeded to run into contact, shove off the two would-be tacklers and sprint under the posts for his second meat pie of the afternoon. Easy try followed by an easy kick.

Half Time Score at Almond Park: Leith 26 - 14 Livingston.

Much like the first half, Livingston were the first to strike. A well controlled maul on the Leith 5m line had the Leith forwards stopping any forward progress from the Livingston forwards. The Livingston 12 ran a good line from the open side and took the ball on the blindside before using his strong frame to charge over the defender to score in the corner. Following the try was a solid touch line conversion!

Leith 26 - 21 Livingston.

The next passage of play will go down in Leith Rugby Club history. The camerawork will also go into the History books, under the biggest fuck up in history. Leith were causing all sorts of problems for the tiring Livingston outfit. Neil Paterson responded quickly to a Leith penalty and took a quick tap. He charged at the retreating defenders before being tackled. Just as he hit the deck he managed to release a pass to Craig Allan who came charging in at top speed. Craig made his yards before passing to James Nimmo, who using his maths prowess had calculated the angle to run and the speed at which to reach to get within distance of Craig. The maths doesn’t lie and Nimmo took the pass and charged past the last defender to crash over the line for the try of the season. The whole team ran in to congratulate Nimmo on such a spectacular score. If you visit our YouTube page and watch the highlights of this game, you won't see any of it as the cameraman missed the whole action….. Dick of the centenary year? Anyway, let's crack on.

Leith 31 - 21 Livingston

It would be very hard to top Nimmo’s try. Andrew Baxter certainly gave it a shot. Off a scrum in their own half, Leith played a move that left the defending team confused as to what was going on. This allowed the ball to find Baxter, who glided past the last defender and jogged up the pitch. He danced around another and casually ran under the posts to score a wonderful solo try. Props to Andy for another wonderful score and for lasting this long into the match to actually still be playing.

Leith 38- 21 Livingston

Livingston were on the end of some very lucky offensive plays that resulted in Leith capitalising on small mistakes that resulted in points. What followed was another unlucky bounce of the ball. Deep into their 22, Kenny released a kick across field that landed in front of the tracking Livingston defender, but the ball bounced back and over his head only to be gathered by Gus, who would shrug off the tackler and then spring 60 odd metres to score his 3rd of the day. Kenny was unlucky with his conversion attempt.

Leith 43 - Livingston 21

Livingston would have the final say in the match. Moving the ball through the hands well, they managed to get an offload away to their winger who stepped inside and managed to out run the covering defence and score their 4th try of the afternoon. A bonus point in the bag for the home team would put up a tough front but were ultimately well beaten by the Leith outfit.

Coach Kev said after the match that this was one of the best performances he’s ever seen from one of his Leith sides and the team itself believed this to be an accurate statement. Man of the match was awarded to Felix Palin, who in the first half tackled anything and everything that moved. A truly incredible defensive performance that beat a hat trick scoring performance for the award. Onto Inverleith next week.

Match Report by the Club Talisman.