Match Report by George Lees

With the weather shining over Inch Park, it seemed like the perfect moment to dust off the old boots pull on Leith gear once again and go run around a field for 80 minutes (or as long as could be done). This was the mentality of a few of the players walking out for the mighty 3s last Saturday as the experienced players came to show the young uns just how this sport of rugby is meant to be played, or at least how it was in their day.

With Leith putting out the 3s for the first time this season it was great to see some old faces turning up once again. With kick off looming just around the corner, Russell Smith pulled one last excuse of ‘my dad's the president’ and managed to avoid once again playing.

With Lismore not quite figuring out where the 10 metre line was, a short grubber was used to start the game with Jon Derrin collecting before rumbling metre after metre to show that his hamstring was once again, as good as it was gonna be. With the Leith pack led by prop Conor Kerr and the erstwhile Keith Aitchinson, Leith marched up the pitch making light work of their opposite numbers. A few phases, and a couple of handling errors later, the ball was shipped wide to fleet footed David Robertson who chipped and chased his own kick to waltz over the line to open the scoring.

From kick off Leith were pinned down in their own half, however with true speedster Willie Cook taking a dive up the blindside and wanting to show the backs just how kicking was meant to be done, cleared the lines to ease the pressure off the team. Strong lineout and defensive work led Leith to continue to move up the field before George Lees managed to find the gap and side step his way over for his first try of the season.

With Matty Alison throwing folk to the side and proving that american football definitely makes superior specimens of humans, Leith once again encroached towards the Lismore tryline. With picks and goes and short balls to the forwards, it was clear that Leith were waiting to launch something special. With everyone set up and waiting to finish a perfectly executed move, Rob Grindley ran away with it himself sniping up the blind side to add more points before the half time break.

With the second half underway it came clear that although leith seemed like the more physical and dominant side, the penalties were beginning to eat into the territory, the referee began to issue warnings for a build up of all of them. The unfortunate Keith Aitchinson became the victim to an unfortunate build of these and was given a quick 10 minute rest as a result of this, although some were jealous of this as it so far had been a long day at the office. Utility back Tommy Seymour, who so far had played 11, 12 and 13 got moved into the pack to even out the numbers to sit in at number 4.
Leith despite having a man down in the pack made sure this wasn’t felt and continued a punishing style of play with the intention it seemed of battering Lismore into the ground first and scoring points second. With another addition into the forwards of Jon Derrin the pack began to look a lot more nimble than was originally expected.

From at least 40 metres out our american football hero, Matty Alison once again took the ball and seemed rather than aiming for gaps to find the opposition to run over before finishing this tremendous effort under the sticks to tally off the end of Leith scoring for the day.

From kick off Leith pinned Lismore back in their own half, and decided to attempt a new and unseen before tactic of booting the ball as hard as they can directly at David Montgomery who proceeded to hit the floor like a sack of spuds. Despite this being the end of his game that day, Dange was sorely missed from around the park due to his dominant play style.

With Montgomery off Leith felt it was time to blood their newest player Gino Crolla, who made his debut not only for Leith but also into rugby. With a strong defensive effort and a couple of carries to his name he can be proud to say he is now going to be bleeding blue and white for the rest of his rugby career, whether he likes it or not!

With penalties once again eating up more ground than we care to admit, Lismore marched their way up the field before deciding to take a quick tap penalty 20 metres out and caught Leith sleeping for them to storm over and get some much needed points on the board.

With time draining away and bodies being littered about the park, the game was brought to a close. It was a fantastic game, although a little scrappy at times, but for Leith once again to get a 3rd 15, it was an experience I'm proud to say I was a part of. Hopefully we can convince the older lads to postpone retirement another couple of years and show the 2s and 1s just how Leith can do it!