Sunday 03 March 2024
The Wee Reds Minis travelled through to Raeburn Place in Edinburgh on Sunday for matches against Edinburgh Accies Minis. Here are reports from the action at the various age grades:
P7s – a game of four quarters
Edinburgh Academicals 9 – 6 Linlithgow P7
With the morning sun breaking through the cloudy Stockbridge sky, the P7’s gathered at Raeburn Place, the home of Edinburgh Academicals the oldest rugby club in Scotland. The supporters gathered and marvelled at the clubs new stand and clubhouse complex with its crisp architectural details.
Unfortunately the ground conditions were far from crisp, with the travelling supporters quickly regretting footwear choices as they moved mud from one corner of the pitch to the other. The claggy conditions would be a factor in a match that was closer than the aggregate score line suggests.
1st Quarter
Edinburgh Academicals 0 – 2 Linlithgow P7
With both sides coming to terms with the heavy ground conditions. Linlithgow started positively and pressed forward at a slower pace than their norm eventually being rewarded for their efforts when Rory crashed through the Accies defence to score a try at the corner. The disciplined Edinburgh side responded well by shifting the ball across field with Callum and Brodie making firm tackles to slow Accies progress. Edinburgh were denied a try by Rory who managed to hold up the prospective Accies try scorer. Undeterred Edinburgh continued to batter Linlithgow’s defence but a late knock on prevented them from their first try. With some experimental kicking from the Reds, Linlithgow were fortunate to ride out the bulk of the 1st quarter unscathed. Accies gathered each kick and ran back at Linlithgow diligently keeping the ball in hand until an Accies pass was intercepted by Joe who ploughed along the muddy wing and was brought down just short of the try line. Linlithgow bombarded the Accies line with Finlay carrying close followed by Archie who’s deft off load to Joe resulted in Linlithgow’s 2nd try.
2nd Quarter
Edinburgh Academicals 1 – 3 Linlithgow P7
After a quick team talk the P7’s regrouped and it wasn’t long before Linlithgow had the upper hand. Following a series of encouraging rucks, Jay smashed his way through the Edinburgh line and off loaded to Tom who ran in a fine try from half way, with Accies players snapping at his heals. Linlithgow weathered all that Edinburgh had to throw at them and it wasn’t long before Jay’s relentless tenacity paid off by making another break for the line before adeptly offloading to Max who galloped his way to try number 4 for Linlithgow. The team have been working hard on the rucks and there were some really positive moments in the game with special mention to Archie who got stuck in andferociously fought for the ball making some superb clearances and tackles. With solid ball carrying from Abi, Finlay McD and Blair, Edinburgh were soon punished by a quick turnover ball which found its way to the hands of Callum who out muscled the Edinburgh defensive line and charged his way to the try line. With 5 unanswered scores Accies had it all to do and were rewarded with a try just before the break.
3nd Quarter
Edinburgh Academicals 3 – 1 Linlithgow P7
The sun disappeared behind a large cloud and the beanie hats came out, so did an impressively galvanised Accies team! Edinburgh started to exploit gaps in the Linlithgow defence having sussed the mismatch on the wings, running in 2 break away tries by outnumbering Linlithgow with their supporting runners at the corner whilst punishing unnecessary Linlithgow kicks. Shell shocked, Linlithgow rallied with try saving tackles from Callum and Cameron who bundled Accies runners into touch. Jay continued tobattle hard with direct running before popping the ball up to Finlay H whoaccelerated toward the lineproving too quick for the waiting Accies defence to score what would be Linlithgow’s 6th and last try of the day. Accies finished with a flourish by completing a 3rd breakaway try.
Final Quarter
Edinburgh Academicals 5 – 0 Linlithgow P7
With heavy bodies and heavier boots, both sides took to the field for the final quarter. Edinburgh ran in the first try which was followed by a slow arm wrestle in the centre of the pitch with both teams showing real grit after the exhausting opening phases. Archie and Callum continued to tackle their opposite numbers into touch to give some much needed breathing space. Unfortunately for Linlithgow, Accies hit hard and fast with 3 tries in quick succession, all scored by stretching a tired Linlithgow side by exploiting the space out wide. The final try of the game was a harsh lesson for Linlithgow as a Reds kick into the centre of the field was deftly gathered by a now confident Accies team and ran in for an unchallenged try.
In the end each side won 2 quarters with Edinburgh claiming the spoils on aggregate. All credit to our hosts who showed real character to come back from a punishing first half. Linlithgow P7 didn’t get the result they were after but they have definitely earned the respect of the Edinburgh Academicals P7 team.
Best performance of the season for Wee Reds P5s
The P5s travelled to Edinburgh Accies and made the most of pleasant weather conditions to put together their best performance of the season so far.
Over three well-balanced games, it was fantastic to see the effort to pass the ball around, keeping the opposition chasing shadows and creating and taking multiple try-scoring opportunities. Brave tackles were another highlight, with fast line speed stifling the opportunities for Edinburgh Accies to gain momentum.
The Reds were victorious across all three games, though it was the performance that had the supporters cheering them off the pitch.
P4s conquer Edinburgh Accies
The Wee Reds P4s travelled through to Raeburn Place, Edinburgh on Sunday to take on Edinburgh Accies, unfortunately due to unavailability we only had a squad of 7, our smallest team of the season so far.
Game 1 – Linlithgow 6 – 4 Edinburgh Accies
With a small squad and only 1 substitute the team took to the pitch, showing some excellent team handling and running Harry crossed the line for two early tries. Accies came back with some great attacks but Patrick was on a mission and lead the defence, tackling everything that moved, closely followed by Rory. Throughout the game the boys showed great skill both in attack and defence, securing a win!
Game 2 –
Where to start with this game. It started as a very physical game. Accies scored 2 early tries with their confidence running high! This spurred Linlithgow into action and through some excellent offloading, scored a couple of tries. After half time the game took a bit of a turn with the referee allowing Accies to play P7 rules and rip the ball from Linlithgow resulting in two tries to them. Linlithgow showed great spirit and with Angus running hard they clawed back another couple of tries through Harry and Rory. The game finished with the Wee Reds getting their second win. A very frustrating game for the players however their sheer determination paid off!
Game Three –
With the boys now into their third game in a row, they would have been forgiven for being tired but they continued where they left off and scored some great early tries through Patrick and Ruaidri. The boys continued to play excellent rugby and came away with a very comfortable win.
Well done to the 7 boys, it wasn’t easy playing 3 games on the bounce but they all dug in and played some super rugby!
Linlithgow Rugby Club 