East Lothian Courier | Sport | Rugby update: Ross High edge nervy county derby

Published: Thursday, 15th November, 2007 09:30

Rugby update: Ross High edge nervy county derby

Ross High 32 - Dunbar 22

ROSS HIGH inched further up the table into third place following victory in an enthralling encounter in the East Lothian derby against Dunbar.

The stiff breeze blowing across the pitch didn’t bode well for an entertaining and open game of rugby, and play was almost exclusively confined to one side of the pitch, but both sets of players served up a fantastic match that could have been won by either team.

Playing down the slope in the opening half, Ross High were first to score through Patterson after a quick penalty caught Dunbar unaware and the outside centre cut through a couple of poor attempts at tackling to score easily.

Dunbar hit back with a period of concerted pressure almost immediately and Andrew Wightman made a strong drive close to the line that set up Malcolm Bell for their opening try.

Unforunately for the visitors, whenever they attacked Ross High’s line the home side came roaring back with renewed vigour, and from a ruck on the visitors’ 22m line, Hughes picked up and charged towards the try line where he was stopped just short, but he managed to pop the ball up to stand-off Patterson who drove over for a converted try.

With their confidence boosted it was the turn of the Ross High no.8 Turley to score when he spun off a maul and exploited further weak tackling to go over.

To their credit Dunbar went straight on the offensive after the restart and a probing kick into the corner by Donnellan gave the Dunbar backs the opportunity to mount an attack with full-back Niall Brockert leaving his opposite number all at sea as he zig-zagged to the line. Donnellan added the conversion points.

Ross High converted a penalty awarded for an offside offence soon afterwards, but Donnellan kicked one for Dunbar which was given for Ross High going over a ruck in front of their own posts.

Steven Low added another try for Dunbar after a driving maul pushed the home team back over their line and Donnellan added the conversion.

At half-time, the away support could have been forgiven for thinking that, with the slope in their favour and a lead of 22-20, the game was there for the taking.

However, Dunbar couldn’t score again and credit must go to Ross High who took the chances that came their way and both of their remaining two tries were scored with great style.

Winger Davis showed his speed to go in at the corner for the first before Dunbar were again caught on the hop by a tap penalty and Patterson capitalised.

Jed-Forest 15 - Haddington 10

Haddington travelled to the Borders for the third time this season looking to bounce back from their first home league defeat of the season to Stewart’s Melville the previous week – but their hosts had other ideas.

Jed-Forest took the spoils against an out-of-sorts Scarlets side that lacked the inspiration and desire their counterparts showed in the latter stages of the match.

Haddington trooped off knowing their early season form has temporarily deserted them with a lack of guile and cutting edge missing throughout this match.

No Haddington player could provide that spark the match was crying out for and a good travelling support left the Borders again knowing another winning opportunity had passed them by.

Haddington had the better of the early exchanges as captain Donald Snodgrass saw himself clean through for a score, but only a last-ditch tackle saved the day for the home side.

This set the pattern of Haddington’s play as the game wore on and a deserved penalty by full-back Brock Gibbons opened the scoring on 11 minutes for the Scarlets.

Jed imposed themselves more at this stage with Clark Laidlaw running operations from the stand-off position and the pack started to cause the bigger Haddington eight problems in the scrum and line-out, which disrupted any platform or continuity Haddington had.

Jed opened their scoring account with a try from Laidlaw on 32 minutes after the Scarlets failed to clear their lines to lead 5-3 at half-time.

Haddington began the second half on the front foot with improved attacking play, which the backs could play off, and turned down a kickable penalty to go for a try, which outlined their intentions.

And their determination paid off after 10 minutes when centre Graham Dykes broke through weak tackling for a try under the posts. Gibbons made no mistake with the conversion and the Scarlets were back in the game leading 10-5.

Gibbons then missed two penalties as the game moved into the final quarter with neither side capable of creating any real phases without making an error.

Scarlets’ scrum-half Sam Johnston was harshly sin-binned for upending a Jed player off the ball with neither player wholly innocent, and Jed took full advantage of their extra man with their second try with 10 minutes remaining when they forced the Haddington pack back over their line from five metres.

A great touchline conversion by Ross Goodfellow added to Haddington’s woes as Jed stole the lead 12-10 with the clock ticking down, and a fitting finish was provided by Jed stand-off Laidlaw who capped a fine all-round performance with an opportunist drop goal.

Musselburgh 8 - Stewart's Melville 36

MUSSELBURGH’S injury crisis was once again exposed with another defeat at home in a turbulent season for the Premier 2 strugglers.

The East Lothian side have been hampered with crippling injuries for much of the campaign and results so far have shown that a fully fit squad is required in a very tough league.

Wells opened the scoring for Burgh with a penalty early in the match, but the visitors levelled through Moran in the sixth minute.

Burgh hit back with a try from Monaghan after he picked up Leitch’s chip, but converted tries from Borthwick and Moran gave Melville a 17-8 lead at half-time.

The home side battled bravely in the second half, but there was always going to be one winner and tries from Unholz, Marshall and Edmonton finished the game off.

Penicuik 19 - North Berwick 6

POOR decision making from North Berwick cost them dear against a stuffy Penicuik side.

North Berwick travelled to Penicuik in good form after a big win the previous week, but also aware that this has not been a happy hunting ground for them over the last few seasons.

Danny Waldman returned at full-back, and Adam McNair returned to the second row with Danny Thorburn moving to the flank.

Penicuik took a 14-0 lead into the half-time interval following bad decisions in attack for North Berwick.

Craig Lauder kicked two penalties to claw some points back for the county side, but Penicuik clinched the match with their second try from an excellent effort which started in their own half.

Edinburgh University 23 - Preston Lodge 17

THE students of Edinburgh University taught Preston Lodge a lesson as the East Lothian side’s dismal away record continued with another defeat on Saturday.

After last week’s excellent game at home, Preston Lodge expected nothing less than a win as they travelled to Peffermill to play second bottom of the table Edinburgh University.

Unfortunately, a poor performance and even poorer discipline from PL contributed to one of the worst displays of the season so far, which left them with only a losing bonus point for their efforts.

The early part of the game was littered with a series of poor positional kicks as both sides tried to settle and gain the advantage, but it was PL who opened the scoring through Ali Wood after Andrew Clark skilfully drew in a full-back to give him a clear run to the line for a try against the run of play.

The University backs responded immediately as a combination of good play by their centres and missed tackles from PL allowed them in for a try to tie the scores.

The students took the lead on 20 minutes with a penalty and they extended it two minutes later when the scrum-half slotted another kick from the same position after more PL indiscipline.

Steven McEwan pulled a try back for PL in his first match of the season before half-time to make it 11-10 to the hosts.

Edinburgh scored an early try in the second half before tempers flared and Keith Duncan and an Edinburgh player were sent off following a stamping incident on a PL player. Duncan was sent off for retaliation.

The home side scored another try to make it 23-10 before Patterson pulled one back near the end from a quick tap penalty.

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