East Lothian Courier | Sport | Rugby round-up: Rousing performance earns PL vital victory

Published: Friday, 11th January, 2008 09:30

Rugby round-up: Rousing performance earns PL vital victory

Preston Lodge 27, East Kilbride 12

PRESTON LODGE produced their best performance of the season to kick off 2008 with a bang against East Kilbride at the Pennypit on Saturday.

PL swept aside third placed EK with a bonus point for four tries as they finally showed their fans what they are really capable of.

Playing with the benefit of the stiff breeze in the first half, PL soon had EK under sustained pressure in their 22 for the first 10 minutes and were rewarded with a Cameron McLean try.

Andrew Clark’s excellent kick forced the EK full-back to concede a five metre scrum and the forwards made no mistake in protecting the ball as they drove to the line, creating the gap for the young prop to barge his way over.

Graeme Patterson added the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

East Kilbride reduced the gap to 7-3 after 20 minutes with their first visit into the PL half when Clint Guyatt was penalised for failing to stay on his feet, but Patterson immediately replied with a penalty when the EK scrum half was caught offside in front of the posts.

The PL forwards dominated scrums and line-outs throughout the half, as well as using the McLean brothers as runners to cause problems for the visitors’ defence.

It was the backs’ turn to show off their handling skills on the half hour mark when quick ball was produced five metres from the EK line which found it’s way to Ali Wood who made no mistake as he crossed in the corner for his 12th try of the season. Patterson added the difficult conversion to extend the lead to 17-3.

This was to be the half-time score, but only after a magnificent try-saving tackle by Greg Kinross after the home side were caught napping when the ball was in touch.

East Kilbride took a quick line-out and their winger had enough space and pace to sprint 60 metres before being stopped by the full-back just short of the line.

Kinross was to repeat this feat right at the start of the second half with another quality tackle when EK broke through again as the visitors began to pick up the pace of the game with the wind at their backs.

PL conceded three penalties during this time, all for offside, which were converted to make the score 17-12.

The large and vociferous crowd now sensed that the next score would be crucial in deciding which team would go on to win.

East Kilbride kept up the pressure on their hosts and their next attack required a great tap tackle from Jonathan Brash to bring it to a halt and from that point on, normal service was resumed as the PL forwards regained control of the ball and the game as PL weathered the storm.

Two crucial substitutions were made by PL when Thomas Logan took his place on the wing and club captain David Scott made a welcome return to the first team after more than a year’s absence recovering from a serious injury.

The duo were soon in action and proved their worth as the ball was passed through the backs to find flanker Scott in the outside centre position.

And his timing was perfect as he sent a scoring pass to Logan who sprinted over from the 22 for a great try in the corner.

PL scored their 50th try of the season on 70 minutes when the backs carried the ball into the EK 22 and Brash sent Kinross over with a perfect pass.

Hillhead Jordanhill 10, Haddington 15

BOTTOM of the table Hillhead Jordanhill gave the Scarlets a run for their money on Saturday in a tense match battled out in terrible conditions.

Haddington knew it was going to be a difficult match in Glasgow against a team battling for survival in Premier 2 and unlucky with their results at home this season.

The conditions dominated proceedings and deteriorated so badly that the match could have been abandoned in its infancy. But the worst of the weather subsided and the match was played to a finish.

The Scarlets seemed to adapt to the conditions quicker than their hosts early on and dominated all the territorial advantage for the first 25 minutes of the game.

However, a combination of poor finishing and a stubborn defence ensured there was no scoring during this period.

After literally weathering the early storm, Hills’ first foray into the Scarlets half paid dividends with a penalty from full-back Gus Twaddle to make it 3-0.

Haddington bounced straight back and a clever kick-and-chase from winger Graham Crawford had the home side scrambling to save another certain try.

But the pressure on the home side eventually paid off when stand-off Jamie Peters kicked a penalty to level the scores.

And just when Haddington thought they had things back under control, Hills produced their best spell of the half and after disrupting a scrum, their impressive number eight, Cammy Kerr, picked up and drove over near the posts. The easy conversion gave Hills a surprise 10-3 lead at the break.

The visitors still seemed shell-shocked at being behind as the second half kicked off with the home team looking the more composed during the third quarter and only good defending by the Scarlets keeping Hills at bay.

Both sides were unfortunate to have a player sin-binned for illegal play as the finely balanced game moved into the final quarter.

The Scarlets’ backline had threatened to cut loose for most of the day, and with 15 minutes remaining, it eventually sprung the Hills rearguard with captain Donald Snodgrass making the initial break before linking with Neil Watt who in turn fed winger Crawford to evade the cover defence and touch down.

The conversion was missed but the Scarlets were now only two points adrift at 10-8.

Haddington continued to press for the vital next score and got their just reward within five minutes after the forwards set up good field position.

The ball was then released to the backs and the elusive Crawford popped up in midfield to burst through a gap and score near the posts. Jamie Peters made no mistake with the conversion to give the Scarlets a five point lead at 15-10.

The Scarlets were rampant towards the end and should have added another couple of scores in the final 10 minutes.

Kelso 14, Musselburgh 0

NEW year, same old Musselburgh, as they went another 80 minutes without scoring a point in a disappointing defeat to third bottom Kelso who exchanged places with them in the league following the win.

The county side have had their problems getting points on the board this season and find themselves in the drop zone once more despite a mini revival towards the end of last year.

Burgh now replace Kelso in third bottom place only six points ahead of Cartha Queens Park.

The East Lothian side have been without key players for most of the season, which has shown in their results, but with the squad beginning to gel in the last couple of months, it was thought they were over the worst.

But late call-offs for Saturday’s match didn’t help the cause and Kelso took full advantage of the under-strength 15 who did make it out onto the pitch.

This was a very disappointing result from a Musselburgh standpoint and the margin could have been wider had Kelso been less elaborate.

Some fine handling was shown from both sides, but the Burgh backs did not show much as an attacking force.

Their defensive display was sound, but the line-outs were shambolic and the forwards had another fine game, albeit conceding a pushover try to a, by then, rampant Kelso side late on.

The home side took the lead early on after Gillespie made progress from a line-out and spread ball. A forward pass brought the move up short and Kelso put pressure on the Burgh scrum to win a penalty at the 22 metre line and Utterson split the posts in the third minute to make it 3-0.

Utterson extended his side’s lead on 24 minutes with another easy kick from 10 metres after Burgh failed to make touch and the score was the same when the teams turned round for the second half.

Kelso attacked from their kick-off, but it took until the 64th minute for them to break down the Burgh defence.

After a great saving challenge from Leitch, Kelso’s drive from the line-out was held up, but they forced their way over from a scrum and Gillespie touched down for an unconverted try.

The home side continued to probe the Burgh line afterwards and another penalty from Utterson in front of the posts on the quarter hour mark finished the scoring.

North Berwick 56, Dalkeith 0 (friendly)

NORTH BERWICK warmed up for 2008 with a decisive 56-0 friendly win over Dalkeith in blustery conditions on Saturday.

The first half was closely contested and served as a good work-out for NB before they return to league action against Hawick Harlequins this weekend.

Tries from Macauley (2), Sumner (2), Ross, Gannon, Ewer, Spense, Andy Scott and Garry Cockburn with captain Grant Craig adding two conversions for the victory.

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