East Lothian Courier | Sport | Preston Lodge in Murrayfield final

Saturday, 17th May, 2008

Published: Thursday, 24th April, 2008 09:20

Preston Lodge in Murrayfield final

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PRESTON LODGE will be sitting at the top table of Scottish rugby next Saturday, May 3, after reaching the SHE Bowl final.

The Prestonpans side will travel to Murrayfield to play Lanarkshire outfit Dalziel in one of the four SHE knockout competition finals that bring down the curtain to the rugby 15s season. The kick-off is 12.15pm.

Despite facing an ardous round trip of almost 600 miles to face Caithness in the semi-final last Saturday, Preston Lodge produced a great display to dispose of their hosts and were worthy winners by 16-3.

Scenes of elation followed the match as the PL supporters, including one from as far away as the English Midlands, joined the players in celebration on the pitch.

Club committee member Johnston Craig is looking forward to the club’s second trip to Murrayfield in recent years. He said: “The boys were brilliant in Saturday’s semi-final.

“We were dominant for most of the game, but when we had to be strong in defence late on, we were up to the task.

“I can’t praise the boys highly enough, when you consider how far they had to travel to the game on Saturday and the logistics of getting there.”

Craig confirmed that the club are already well advanced in planning for the Murrayfield final. He said: “We expect to have a big support with us on the day.

“We have taken 350 tickets and I would ask people to buy them from us, instead of directly from the SRU, as all the proceeds from tickets sold by us remain with the club.

“The tickets cost £10 and £5 and they can be got through our ticket hotline number 01875 818012.”

Prior to last Saturday’s semi-final against Caithness, Craig had observed that the trip to Thurso would have been a test for any side and so it proved. He said: “It’s not unusual for the team to meet at around 1pm prior to a match, but for the trip to Caithness, the rendezvous was 26 hours prior to kick off.”

But PL were well prepared for the match and put pressure on the Caithness defence from the first whistle.

This constant pressure continued to trouble the home side as they conceded several penalties and Patterson converted two of them to make it 6-0 to the visitors after 14 minutes.

On the half hour, Ali Wood collected a kind bounce to touch down one of the easiest of his 23 tries this season.The conversion was added to extend the lead to 13-0 at half time.

Both sides scored from penalties in the second half, but despite intense home pressure, Preston Lodge held on to reach the final.

Fans and joined the players on the field in celebrations that they hope will be repeated at Murrayfield.

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