Linlithgow u18  34 – 12  Watsons u18 B

Saturday 12 September 2026

Report by Nick Smith

We needed to consign our midweek Schools Cup game against Dollar to the history books; this game had been extremely tough and given us plenty to think about, but not to wallow in and we needed to move on and focus on the game in front of us this weekend.  This came in the form of George Watsons 2nd XV.

So it was with this in mind we kicked off. We soon got into our stride putting together some nice phases and strong carries into Watsons’ defence.  This put them on the back foot and made it much easier for us to run the ball down the back line or quickly offload to the next on-running player.  It wasn’t long before Cammy burrowed over from short range for our first try.

I think it is fair to Watsons to say that this may have caught them cold and a little fresh of the bus. They came right back at us with some strong carries of their own and showed that their backs had equal pace and guile.  Soon they scored themselves to create a stalemate which lasted much of the half, that is until Max spotted a gaping whole in their defence and waltzed through it.  He kept dancing his way to the try line to put us a try ahead at half time.

The second half continued in a similar vein and was as tight as a pair of trousers after a Sunday dinner.  Until, rather ironically, we received a yellow card.  Ewan found himself on the wrong side of the ref and was given 10 minutes in the bin. This marked the turning point for us.  First Max kicked a penalty to run down the clock a little and take us 3 points further into the lead.  Then Scott finished off a well worked overlap to score in the corner.  Watsons weren’t done though and forced a try themselves from close range to keep themselves in the game.

From this point on the score card suffered damage from the late arriving rain but if memory serves Ewan and Callum D dotted down to get themselves on the score sheet before the end of the game, giving us the victory 34-12.

It was great to see the boys playing so well as a team but it’s also important to note some great individual performances. Tom and Nathan made debuts earlier than planned. We very much hope to see more of both of them in the coming weeks. Murray had a good game on the wing carrying with real purpose often in some difficult circumstances close to his own line, Scott was also solid alongside in his a new role at full back.  Callum R and Greg were awesome in the loose both as busy as a pair of labradors at a sausage convention, and a tip-of-the hat to Angus T whose line-out throwing has come on leaps and bounds since a recent conversion to hooker.  Player man of the match this week goes to Finlay A who did not hesitate in getting stuck in amongst the Watsons pack, both in defence and attack. This was not flashy stuff but it was mightily effective in both slowing down their ball and creating opportunities for others.