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Watsonians 3rd XV 27 – 10 Linlithgow 2nd XV
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A full house at Myreside on Saturday saw the Third XV shunted from the familiar expanses of M1 to one of the pitches more suited to the “athletically challenged.”
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Opponents for the day were a youthful looking Linlithgow team, unbeaten in their last six matches.
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With all four senior teams playing, there was somewhat of a tussle for players at the lower end of the scale. Thankfully there has been a gradual drift of players back to training, and along with some new faces, 4 strong teams were able to take the field.
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As a result, a number of players made their competitive debuts for the mighty Thirds. In the front row, fresh faced “newbie” Doullie Cameron packed down beside stalwarts McPhillips and McAinsh. Utility forward Harry Mustard was joined in the second row by another debutant Dave Keracher, with a more familiar back row of Von Buddenbroek, Wilson and Adams.
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In the back line another new addition to the Watsonian ranks Neil McMillan, was thrust into the somewhat unfamiliar position on the wing, and the ever-popular Baz Lawson returned from his world cup exodus to take up the scrum half berth. Neil Gibson moved into fly half with Pang and Cox filling the midfield berths. Alex Grant moved into fullback with winger Sam Mackey the only player to avoid the positional musical chairs this week.
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Unfortunately/fortunately (delete as required) for the Thirds, popular front rower Euan Lyster was promoted/relegated (again, delete as required) to the fourth XV, resulting in the uncomfortable scenario whereby the Third XV had no substitutes for the afternoon.
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Despite some good performances this season, third XV matches have been characterised by slow starts. This was not the case on Saturday, despite a low key warm up the home defence tore into their opposition from the off. Linlithgow, having “enjoyed” a high tempo warm up looked to put the Sonian’s back three under pressure early on but they hadn’t accounted for the kicking abilities of Grant and McMillan who returned everything thrown at them with interest.
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With Mustard and your gravitational challenged author claiming useful lineout ball, as well as pinching much of their opponents, the Thirds were able to gain some useful field position. However, it would be the visitors who would draw first blood. Ironically, from a scrum that they had initially lost, Linlithgow managed to regain the ball which found it’s way into the hands of their speedy flanker who took play deep into the Sonian’s half. As the home side scrambled back to defend, Linlithgow spread the ball wide where their pacy winger managed to squeeze in at the corner flag for an unconverted try.
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This score, while not entirely against the run of play, invoked an impressive reaction from the home team. From the restart, the Linlithgow forwards were under pressure and a knock on gave possession to the Thirds in a dangerous position.
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Despite many hurtful allegations to the contrary, your author has never played in the front row and is certainly no expert on the dark arts associated. However, from the resulting scrum, the referee deemed the visiting team to be guilty of such an offence. Quick thinking by scrum half Lawson released your truly towards the Linlithgow line. The ball was quickly recycled for Bad Boy McAinsh to rumble ever closer, however the defending team had other ideas deciding that conceding a penalty was preferable to conceding a try. Gibson made no mistake with the formality of opening the Third XV account.
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Hungry for more points, Sonians were soon on the attack once more. An attacking line out close to the Linlithgow line saw the long awaited return of the “mighty mauling machine,” the home team pushing their way over for their first try of the afternoon.
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With “discussions” regarding the identity of the individual who applied the finishing touch still raging, Gibson stood up and duly added the conversion to give the home team a half time lead of 5 points.
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One of the few perks of penning the match report is that in such occasions of uncertainty, when two players are claiming the final touch leading to a score, desire to “convince” the author and thus appear credited with the try for all to appreciate on the world wide web should usually lead to a fairly cheap night on the pints front.
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Not so with Messrs Mustard and Von Buddenbroek who seemed much keener to distance themselves than actually claim the score. Honestly guys, I was only kidding about the pints !!
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Half Time: 10 – 5
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If the Third’s thought that the hard work had been done and they would simply run up a big score in the second half, Linlithgow had other ideas.
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Right from the start of the second period, the visitors put the home team under pressure. Time and time again the Sonian’s defence creaked but refused to buckle, with some thundering hits going in from McMillan and Pang in particular.
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Gradually the Sonian’s players began to work their way down field and another surging drive from a line out on half way saw enough room created for scrum half Lawson to scamper through the Linlithgow line. Luckily, Lawson had enough pace to reach the line for an unconverted score, especially given half his team mates were still heavily involved in driving their opponents up field !!
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The visitors refused to crumble and once more mounted some strong attacks on the Sonians defence. Failure to effectively clear their lines along with some sloppy play at the breakdown saw the Third’s struggling for field position, however regular observers will appreciate that the home team are often at their most dangerous in defence. An innocuous missed timed pass by visitors was pounced upon by flankers Adams and Von Buddenbroek who combined to send tireless lock Harry Mustard clear under the posts for a try which centre James Pang ably converted.
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Three scores clear with the clock on their side, the home team were guilty of taking their foot of the pedal somewhat. A raft of substitutions breathed new life into the visiting team and after a period of significant possession a blindside break allowed the opposition flanker to brush off two tackles to cut the deficit to 12 points.
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However it was the home team, and in particular the forwards who were to have the final say – once again mauling their way over the Linlithgow line from a lineout for another unconverted try.
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The fourth and final score of the afternoon was not without controversy as a gleeful Lawson appeared from the bottom of the mass of bodies with the ball. However, the forwards all agreed that “allowing” the popular Kiwi to piggy-back a score off them was the right thing to do in order to help Baz rekindle his love for the game and lift him from his post World Cup hangover.
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Full Time: 27 – 10
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A great performance by a makeshift team once again, the Third’s defended as if their lives depended on it. Many individuals stood out but special mention must go to the debutant trio who acquitted themselves superbly and will be useful additions to the Third XV panel.
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Man of the match would have been deservedly awarded to Harry Mustard, however given that he shied away from claiming the first try of the afternoon and declined to inflict a further score on his opponents when he chose not to play to the whistle with the line beckoning, one can only assume that “Keen As” suffers from acute modesty and therefore singling him out for such an accolade would only serve to heighten his anxiety!!
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Next up, an away trip over the bridges to Kinross.
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For those of you who are interested, I have included the link to the Third XV league table below:
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http://www.scottish2xv.org.uk/ - (we are Div 4E E&S)
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