Photo above taken 100 years ago at Inverleith will have to do until U16s provide a team photo in their new kit!! [Ed]

Stewarts Melville U16 B 17 – 55 Linlithgow U16

Saturday 28 September 2024

Report by Lewis Hughes

The boys arrived today in sunny Inverleith seeking their sixth straight victory of the season and their third in the Conference.

They looked dominant straight from kick off and it only took around 3 minutes for Alex to get us on the scoresheet, taking the ball on the wing after some slick passing and utilising his trademark sidestep. Alfie gave us the extras and kicked an impressive 60% today from some wide angles.

The forwards hunted hard at the breakdowns to recover the ball quickly and used the bows and arrows to great effect to gain territory. Another display of quick passing got the ball into the hands of Finlay M who pinned his ears back to beat his opposite number to touch down in the corner.

The boys continued to work hard, winning line-outs against the head, more often than not courtesy of Ektor; but even where they didn’t win them, they refused to let Stew Mel get easy ball.

Angus M had already put in a power of tackling, often gaining ground on their attack with powerful hits, before he was offloaded the ball in the Stew Mel 22. An impressive acrobatic effort saw him touch down under the posts.

Duncan was next to touch down for the first of his hat- trick, running a nice angle and delaying the pass to let the defence drift, he took the gap and ran it in.

Stew Mel had periods of possession in our half but the boys defended ferociously and held them out, forcing them back into their 22. Next, Liam managed to turn the ball over and emerged unexpectedly from a huddle to run in his try. Duncan completed the first half’s scoring after Ali Burns side stepped and jinked his way through the defence and managed to get away a good offload.

The second half saw a raft of substitutions and moves with boys playing in experimental positions: notably Finlay McK who had several rutting runs from defence and at least 2 try saving tackles; Elliot who had an admirable performance at number 9; and Callum who braved the fray of the front row.

There were some bullying runs today from the forwards, which belied their deft offloads, particularly from Cameron Mc, Ektor and Greig. Tom, Cameron and Connor also worked hard at the breakdown to win and secure possession.

Ali B’s try was a display of strength to break a tackle and speed off the mark to round the winger in a tight space. Stew Mel were coming back into the game and scored 3 tries in the second half but the boys showed grit to match them, encouragement often led by Callum.

TJ had come on at half time and made an instant impact, breaking the line several times and created Duncan’s final try. 

The final try of the match was Ektor’s and came after he led a charge to the Stu Mel line; knocking everyone down in his way, he was stopped short but managed to regain the ball from his supporting forwards to touch down.

Alex K and Micah carried well and led a competitive scrum today. Joe and Alfie passed as well as I’ve seen them which set up plays all over the field. Particular note goes to Jaden who hit up well and caught some difficult balls and Kieron who played well coming on in the second half.

At 55-17 it was a comfortable win for the team, garnering much praise from the Stew Mel supporters and bodes well for our next two important matches against Dunbar and Dollar. 

Man of the match this week goes to a well deserving Ektor for his strong running, rucking and wins in the line-out.

Scottish Schools Cup Report

You can also read the report from the Cup win over St Columba’s by clicking this link