Linlithgow  41 – 19  Penicuik

Saturday 17 February 2024

Report by Des Martin

It was great to get this opportunity to play Penicuik at home after a short break for internationals. The club was very busy as the Reds were playing Forresters in a cup game and there were 40 people at the sponsored lunch. The bottom pitch was muddy but the dry day had left it playable but heavy underfoot .

The Seconds had a balanced team with a good back line. Struan McLean was partnered at stand off by debutant Fraser Miller who recently turned 18 and took to senior rugby like a pro.  He was supported by Calum Lindsay and Shaun Lamb in the centres.  Calum had been out injured for a few weeks but he came back with a vengeance scoring 4 tries on a wet and slippery surface. He gave a very good demonstration of back play supported by Cammy Walker and Shaun Lamb. 

The forwards were well in control throughout on the slippery surface carrying the ball through Marc Amatller, Alex McHardy, Matty Sommerville and Aiden Mochrie.  However they unfortunately lost Max Holt early on with an accidental collision which loosened his front teeth. He was replaced by Stu Young who moved to hooker and Callum Hay came into the pack. This forced replacement didn’t weaken the team and the forwards continued to provide clean ball for the scrum half and the backs.

The Reds controlled play well and at half time the score was 24-5 to the Reds. 3 tries for Calum Lindsay and 1 for Cammy Walker with 2 conversions. 

The  Manager warned the team against complacency and reminded them of the previous fixture away to the same side, when we scored no points in the second half despite doing so well the previous 40 minutes.

Lo and behold straight away after the break Penicuik scored again and it was 24-12.  Fortunately the forwards made a number of rumbustious drives towards the Penicuik line and Fraser Miller put in a nice cross kick which was gathered by Mayo Herdman and he scored.  29-12. Andrew Veitch not long on the park gathered an opportunist loose ball and sprinted tor the line and scored (34-19).

Penicuik redoubled their efforts, helped by a few indiscretions by the Reds which were penalised sharply by referee Stephen Dixon, and scored another try. The Reds, though, were well in control and Calum Lindsay scored his fourth try to cap a fine performance. 

The final score ended 41-19 to Linlithgow.  Everyone tried really hard and played well in the muddy conditions. They were assisted by strong and fair refereeing which helped control the flow and tempo of the game. The result which was great for rugby and was enjoyed by both sides.

Linlithgow

Aiden Mochrie, Max Holt, Matthew Sommerville; Neil Lockhart, Finlay Chadwick; Marc Amatller, Stuart Young and Alex McHardy; Struan McLean, Fraser Miller; Lewis Herdman, Calum Lindsay, Shaun Lamb, Michael Rafferty and Sammy Walker.

Substitutes

Calum Hay, Callum Miller, Andrew Veitch and Eddie Beamish