Report by Gordon Muir

Musselburgh 21 – 50 Linlithgow (Wednesday 21 February 2024)

Linlithgow 52 – 10 Lenzie (Saturday 24 February 2024)

Linlithgow under 18s played a lot of rugby in a busy week, with an East Cup fixture away at Musselburgh on Wednesday night followed by a friendly v Lenzie at home on Saturday morning.

A postponed East Cup pool match saw the Young Reds travelling away to play an evening fixture at Musselburgh Rugby Club. Linlithgow, unbeaten so far in the competition, were guaranteed a place in the semi-final but the result would decide whether they would seal top spot in the group or risk falling to second – with, theoretically, a tougher semi-final opponent. 

The team arrived in good spirits and, having braved rush hour on the City Bypass, felt ready for just about anything. The two sides had met in Linlithgow for the opening Conference game of the season, when the Young Reds ended up as comfortable winners. With a bigger squad to draw from back on home turf, playing under the lights and now on cup business, Musselburgh looked ready to put up a sterner test.

And so it proved to be, with a fiercely physical opening passage of play and strong carrying in particular from the Musselburgh forwards seeing the home side open the scoring after 7 minutes. The Young Reds had not really had much ball in this opening period and it was Musselburgh who attacked again after kick-off, with a huge defensive effort required to keep them out. The pressure was eventually relieved and it was Linlithgow’s turn to put the pressure on.  A surging break from Alfie was stopped just before the line and a quick recycle got the ball into the hands of Jack M, who powered over to open the scoring for the visitors. Fraser added the extras and the score was 5-7.

The next score came straight off the training field, but probably not in the way you think. Musselburgh were again finding ways to gain ground and were making a promising attack down the left flank when Calum snatched the interception (as he does at least once per week in training) and tore off downfield to score. Another successful conversion and the visitors were 14-5 up and building a lead, although the match remained closely fought and the home team would have certainly scored again had it not been for some magnificent cover tackling from Ethan O at full-back. As it was, Linlithgow scored next, with excellent direct running and sharp handling off the back of a powerful scrum on half way. Scrum-half Fraser picked up the ball and ran, feeding Alfie, Rory and eventually (that man again) Calum, who rounded the defence and gave himself time to score under the posts.    

The half concluded with a well-deserved second try for Musselburgh, who created an overlap on the right and kept cool heads to run in the score. 10-21 at half time.

The chat in the Linlithgow huddle was about improving discipline, staying connected in defence and being patient and keeping clear heads in attack. I’m not sure what the Musselburgh coaches said but it looks like it was a bit more inspiring than that, as the home side came out fired up and very quickly scored a try to take the game to 15-21. They promptly followed up with an excellent restart, recovering the ball and barrelling over the line, this time adding the conversion to take the lead for the first time since early in the first half. It was 22-21 and very much game on.

The next score was clearly going to be crucial and once again Calum had a hand in it, with another interception, this time in a lot of traffic so he quickly offloaded to put Rory in space, with a lot to do. A magnificent run, starting with a burst of pace and finishing with a neat step of the fullback, made sure of the score from 60m out. 22-28.  Just three minutes later, the Reds were in again, this time a wonderful team try, finished in the corner, that took the score out to 22-33, which was how it stayed for the next 20 minutes or so. Despite the 11 point cushion, it felt very much like a match in the balance as Musselburgh had proven their ability to score quickly and it wasn’t until a flurry of late tries for Cameron, hat-trick hero Calum and super-sub Johnny (on for 3 minutes including an excellent try) that put the result decisively in Linlithgow’s favour. A game that was a real test of character and skill for the boys finished 21-50 but never felt anywhere near that comfortable.

Saturday’s squad was slightly depleted due to a few knocks from Wednesday night, but nonetheless we were able to put out a strong team to face Lenzie for a game that we all hoped would be a pre-Murrayfield aperitif to kick off a day filled with exciting rugby.  Lenzie’s squad was comprised of a mix of U16 and U17 players but the coaches had spoken beforehand to agree that we all wanted to get some game time for the players and we wouldn’t worry too much about the result of a friendly fixture.

Fears that it may be a mismatch looked like they might be borne out when Alfie, Caiden and Rory (twice) scored in the first 10 minutes.  However, Lenzie stepped up their defence, and the Young Reds’ discipline began to slip with some off-side and high tackle penalties helping the visitors clear their lines.  You can’t keep a good team down, though, and Linlithgow added another score as Jack M finished off a flowing move to take the score to 31-0.  Lenzie weren’t to be shut out and finally crossed the line shortly before half time, to take the score to 31-5.

With the first half tries coming through the back division, the piano shifters decided it was their turn to have a shot in the second period. Euan J picked a smart line to go over after just a couple of minutes and he was later joined in the scorebook by Johnny and Jack M (who had moved in to the pack). Dead-eye conversions from Ruiari and Fraser took the score to 52-5 before Lenzie once again had the last word with a score at the death to finish 52-10: Another terrific win for the U18s who are building some great momentum as they head towards East Cup semi-finals.

It was great to have a run out on Upper Mains Park and send players and spectators away happy and in good spirits to enjoy the Calcutta Cup. Although it was a one-sided result, this was another physical game of rugby (very physical from time to time as frustration got the better of the visitors who resorted to a few acts of violence – ending up with the ref showing a red card to a Lenzie player, although we asked them to put on a replacement as this was a development fixture) and the Young Reds kept their heads and behaved to an excellent standard throughout.  A special word for Logan R, who came off with a broken shin (not from a deliberate act but I’m sure no less painful for that). Heal up soon Logan and we look forward to getting you back on the pitch before the end of the season!