Reds 2s end all square against Lasswade after great performance
Lasswade 2nd XV 24 – 24 Linlithgow 2nd XV
Saturday 19th October 2024
Match Report by Phil Findlater
Tries from Eddie Beamish, Ross Plenderleith, John Pegg and Gabe Wylie were not enough to secure a victory for the Reds 2s against a stuffy Lasswade Seconds and they had to settle for the draw in a match that they really deserved more from.
Linlithgow took an early and commanding 0-7 lead at Hawthornden, with the opening score coming off the back of a great line out take by Ross Findlater, to his Scrum Half, Euan McCartney, who then fed the backline who showed good, straight passing hands to Eddie who crossed the line to score with Gregor McLean securing the extras – 0 -7
Today’s Referee was having a very particular interpretation on early engagement at the scrums, of which there were plenty in the first 20 minutes due to poor handling and final passes, and he felt that our Loose Head was just too fast off the mark at this action and he was penalised several times.
Lasswade were maybe not as mobile a team as the younger Reds, but for the pace that they did not possess they made up for with power and strength which their forward pack put to good use in gaining ground in our half of the field. And from this area they scored a close range try which they also manged to convert – 7 -7
As previously mentioned, the referee was having a day of strong whistling and he managed to Yellow Card a player from each side, before half time, for the multiple penalty count that he was overseeing, but the first half managed to end equal at 7-7 despite the Reds having the better half with strong possession, the bulk of territory and the more chances and ground gained.
Soon after half time, and after having a great first half at controlling our field position with the boot, Gregor went off with a knee injury which required a reshuffle of the back division. Fraser Miller moving to Stand Off and a first match back for a few seasons for Gabe, who moved to the Wing, despite his teammates trying to get him into the pack!!
With the back-row duo John and Ross Findlater carrying well in the loose, the ball was eventually recycled to Ross P who crashed over after a mazy run from Full Back, restoring our lead Fraser making the difficult conversion – 7 – 14
An injury to Aiden Mochrie, and being replaced by Andy Archer, meant that we had to go to uncontested scrums for the remainder of the game. We then lost another player to a Yellow Card due to “unsafe arms” during a tackle, which required another shuffle of key personnel and after this change is when Lasswade managed to trundle over in the corner for a score, but with a conversion secured – 14 – 14
The visiting side soon regained their advantaged thanks to Back Row John who finished off a fine team move after Ross winning the lineout, some great driving play from the finisher, Finn Chadwick with further great charging from Ross, great passing and determination from the team which eventually found John supporting play and running into the corner to touch down – No conversion – 19 – 14
Penalties and advantage were being given away and allowed the home team to squeeze out another score from their pack that still continued to slowly lumber on and score after they were repelled and held up on countless occasions with some brave defending, but their weight advantage showed – No conversion – 19 – 19
Despite this set back, the Red’s boys continued to take the game to their opponents. Not lying down or accepting that the match was over, and after Matty Sommerville had driven hard after a line out Gabe picked the ball up and managed to evade the rushing defence to score in the right-hand side of the pitch – justifying his selection on the Wing!!! No Conversion – 24 – 19
Shortly after the restart we suffered another Yellow Card putting us down to 14 men for the remaining 10 minutes of the contest. The Lasswade forwards, again, took advantage of our reduced numbers and continued to attack us through their slow, driving maul which eventually paid dividends for them with a score in the corner, despite the Reds manfully tackling and putting bodies on the line to stop them – No Conversion 24 – 24
The men in black had another spell of putting us under pressure, after the kick off, and continued their approach of “taking it on up front”, but our defence and attitude to not concede was fantastic and the whole team put in efforts to ensure that they did not score again. Final score 24 – 24
There were plenty of impressive performances throughout the Reds with Gregor controlling the match in the first half, Alex Dunlop having an impressive debut at Hooker for his first time, John Fraser and Ross a constant threat at the breakdown and in the loose, and Aiden keeping the scrum going forward despite the on-going attention of the Referee. Eddie Beamish providing the go-forward in midfield, supported by his partner Calum Lindsay while the experienced Ross P got through his share of line breaks from the back division making some serious ground.
Despite a very much lost 2 points the Reds 2s still sit 3rd in their league with all to play for next Saturday at home against Stewart’s Melville 2nd XV.