East Lothian Courier | Sport | Howe can we bounce back from this one, lads?

Thursday, 20th November, 2008

Published: Thursday, 4th September, 2008 09:30

Howe can we bounce back from this one, lads?

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Howe of Fife 80 v 8 Preston Lodge

Injury-ravaged Preston Lodge travelled to Cupar knowing that a tough afternoon was in store against a team who scored more than 750 points on their way to promotion last season.

And so it was to prove, as the young Howe team ran in 12 tries with PL only managing one in reply.

PL actually created the first real chance of the game as winger Thomas Logan cut inside and broke through the middle. However, a good cover tackle by the full-back stopped him on the 22 and the Howe defence was able to clear the danger.

From then on, it was pretty much one way traffic as the Howe players played with speed and flair. They were able to win the ball in the tackle, often too easily, and then use their speed combined with slick passing and poor PL tackling to create much space.

They managed to score four tries before half-time and PL’s only reply was a Graeme Patterson penalty.

If the PL support could take anything positive from the first-half, it came in the shape of Chris Guiney, a late replacement in the squad who came on to make his debut at full-back.

But for some excellent tackles and high ball catches from the youngster, the deficit would have been greater than 24-3 at half-time.

After the break, Howe of Fife immediately picked up from where they left off and scored three early tries to take the score to 45-3 with 30 minutes still to play.

The PL forwards tried their best to keep possession and slow the game down, but this was no easy task against such a talented, young side.

Stephen McEwan and Paul Voy tried hard to win back as much ball as possible, and the new half-back pairing of John Burns and Patterson were inventive as they tirelessly tried to move the ball down the pitch.

However, the onslaught was too great and too often the ball was spilled or tackles missed.

After 30 minutes of the half, with the score 66-8, PL managed their only try of the afternoon.

Thomas Logan, having moved to centre to help shore up the midfield defence, received the ball following a scrum. His hard running posed problems for the Howe defence and, as he was closed down near the line, he managed to pass to Ben Henderson, allowing the winger to touch down in the corner.

Howe refused to ease up though and managed to score another two good tries before the end to make the final score 80-8.

Next up for PL is a home match against Dalziel – a rematch of the SHE Bowl final from last season.

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