Linlithgow 20 -19 Forrester
Saturday 17 February 2024
Report by David Mitchell
Photos by Graham Black
Mains Park was the scene of the closest game of the season to date for the all conquering Reds. As expected, Forrester provided the stiffest of tests for the home side in the 2nd round of the National Shield competition.
The Reds were without 4 regular starters but their replacements all performed well in what was a difficult afternoon for the home side as they allowed themselves to be dragged into a close quarters tussle against a strong Forrester pack.
The tone was set early on with Forrester being able to strip the ball too easily from Reds’ hands which made it difficult to create any real flow to the game. However the Reds struck first when, after some strong scrummaging, Mark Caddle was stopped just short of the try line and the ball was recycled for scrum half Archie Rusack to find Jack Frame with a pass that allowed the number 10 to squeeze between 2 defenders for a try which he duly converted to give the home side a 7-0 lead.
Despite some early scrum dominance by the Reds, Forrester raised their game and their number 10 kicked well to pin the home side deep in their own half. With the Reds having to defend their line for a sustained period, it was no surprise when after a succession of penalties, Linlithgow were reduced to 14 when Ross Martin received a yellow card for another penalty close to the Reds line. Two plays later Forrester were awarded a penalty try to even the scores after another penalty which prevented a score. There was some confusion, as the referee was unable to identify the offending player and Kieran Cochrane ended up with the short straw – the law states that in the event of a penalty try “a player guilty of this must be cautioned and temporarily suspended or sent off”. Despite being 2 players short for 10 minutes with both Ross Martin and Kieran Cochrane in the bin, the Reds actually created the best try of match when after Jamie Tulloch had pirated a Forrester throw in, the ball moved along the back line with Jack Frame making a nice break before connecting with Murray Johnstone who floated the scoring pass to Cammy Murrie who went over in the corner for an excellent try.
Forrester did eventually manage to capitalise on the Reds being short handed by scoring a try in the left corner to make the score 12-12 at half time.
With the Reds restored to 15 players, the home crowd were expecting a much improved performance in the 2nd half but unusually the team struggled to secure any good clean possession and it was the visitors who looked more likely to score. Despite freshening up the forward pack with the introduction of Adam Scott, Stuart Cunningham and Fraser Mochrie, the Forrester pack continued to disrupt scrum and line-out and deny any clean ball to the home side. Despite some stout defence from the Reds, the pressure finally told when the visitors scored a try under the posts to make the score 12-19.
Thankfully the Reds responded almost immediately when after a good line-out, Ross Plenderleith was sent crashing towards the Forrester midfield and he managed to break through and Ross Tulloch finished off the move to score a much needed try. The conversion went wide and with the score at 17-19, a tense finale was expected. In the end it came down to 2 penalty kicks, one missed by the Forrester number 10 and one successful kick by Jack Frame to give the home team the lead with 10 minutes to go.
However the tension was sustained until the last move of the game when Forrester were penalised when in a good attacking position. Jack Frame cleared the ball off the field and the reaction of home players and crowd showed genuine relief at the narrow victory.
Final score – Linlithgow Reds 20 Forrester 19
Overall this was a poor spectacle with umpteen turnovers, messy line-outs and scrums and a surprisingly low level of quality action not helped by very frequent interventions from the referee. Forrester managed to make the game an arm wrestle for much of the time and it was only 2 or 3 flashes of creativity that allowed the home tries to be scored through the backs.
Defensively, the Reds were mainly solid with excellent midfield defence from John Strachan and Murray Johnstone and some equally strong play from Oscar Davies and Jamie Tulloch who again shone in both attack and defence with an all action display. Finally a word for the Forrester number 8 and captain Craig Morrison. He was a constant thorn in the side throughout the game with a number of strong carries and excellent line-out play and must have been gutted at the end to be on the losing side.
So still a 100% win record this season and into Round 3 of the National Shield. The draw will be made w/c 19th February with the ties to be played on Saturday 2nd March. It was also good to see the return to 1st XV action after injury of prop Colin Devlin and winger Ruaridh Stewart who put in a number of trademark tackles in his brief appearance in the 2nd half.
The next game for the 1st XV will be the National Shield fixture in March.
Linlithgow
Calum McKeown, Kyle Ormond, Colin Devlin; Ross Martin, Kieran Cochrane; Oscar Davies, Jamie Tulloch and Mark Caddle; Archie Rusack, Jack Frame (c); Ross Plenderleith, John Strachan, Murray Johnstone, Cammy Murrie and Ross Tulloch.
Replacements
Stuart Cunningham, Adam Scott, Fraser Mochrie, Ruaridh Stewart and Eddie Beamish
Linlithgow Rugby Club 