Linlithgow  34 – 7  Cumbernauld

Saturday 19 August 2023

Report by David Mitchell

The Reds took the field against West 2 club Cumbernauld in the first of their 2 pre-season games on a blustery but dry day at Mains Park. As is usual in such games, the sessions were 4 x 20 minutes rather than 2 halves and this allowed both teams to give game time to their available squads but inevitably led to the game being difficult to judge in terms of quality due to the frequent changes in personnel and the particular difficulties encountered by both teams in trying to adapt to the new tackle height laws.

It was very encouraging to see the Reds fielding a very young squad and several players made great contributions with high energy levels and no shortage of skills on show. Unfortunately the sessions were punctuated with several injuries which also disrupted any real flow to the play.

The first 3 sessions showed the rustiness of both squads with little in the way of any real patterns of play. There was little to show in terms of scoring until the final session when the home squad began to play at a higher tempo and this created many more opportunities and the Reds ran in 4 tries in the final 20 minute session. However there were few examples of continuity of play and the home team’s old problem of some players carrying the ball too far when support was available must have been frustrating for coaches and players alike.

The game had regular periods of ‘niggle’ which also detracted from good play and the referee had a very busy afternoon. He also applied the new tackle height rule strictly and this affected both teams as many players were regularly penalised which again made much of the game a poor and disjointed spectacle.

Hopefully there will be a few adjustments made to counter the problems displayed when Murrayfield Wanderers arrive next Saturday for the final pre-season game. Note the 1pm kick off at Mains Park.

For the record the try scorers were Penalty, Euan Mochrie, Kyle Aitken, Archie Rusack, Murray Johnstone and Mark Caddle. There are still some senior squad members to turn out this season and their experience will be needed when the East 1 league fixtures begin on 2^nd September at home to Leith. However the performance of many of the younger squad members was exciting to watch and bodes well for the future.

Match Photos by Graham Black

Squad pictured above:

Back row from left:

Mark Caddle, Finlay Chadwick, Calum Lindsay, Conor Findlay, Luke O’Hara, Ross Tulloch, Scott Aitchison, Jamie Tulloch, Eioan Magee, Kieran Cochrane, Ross Plenderleith, Kyle Aitken, Murray Johnstone, Archie Rusack and Oscar Davies.

Front row from left:

Stephan Smith, Stuart Young, Adam Scott, Cammy Murrie, Aidan Rennison, Jack Frame (c), Kyle Ormond, Colin Devlin, Calum McKeown, Euan Mochrie and Aiden Mochrie.