Royal High 3 – 53 Linlithgow
Saturday 25 November 2023
Match Report by David Mitchell
Photos by Graham Black
The Reds travelled to Barnton to play Royal High in this East League Division 1 fixture and continued their fine run of form in front of a large travelling support. Despite an overnight frost, the pitch was perfectly playable and both teams attempted to play an open game. The Reds showed 3 changes in the forward pack from last week but this did not diminish the effectiveness of the team.
The visitors started a bit slowly and Royal High put the first points on the board with a drop goal after 5 minutes. It took the Reds a good 10 minutes to settle into the game but they soon began to dominate the scrums and there was also the usual good supply of ball from the effective Kyle Ormond/ Mark Caddle partnership. The next 20 minutes provided 4 excellent tries to achieve the Try Bonus Point before halftime.
Luke O’Hara continued his try scoring form with a well taken finish after a nicely weighted final pass from Ewan Curran. This was quickly followed by a Kieran Cochrane special when he shunted his first tackler backwards and then ploughed through the remaining defenders to charge over for a try that received a huge cheer from the sideline. The dominant scrum then added a pushover try from Mark Caddle as they continued to win every scrum with power and control. The Bonus Point try was supplied by another regular try contributor in Ross Plenderleith who took the ball in midfield and biffed his way through the defence to score under the posts. Skipper Jack Frame added conversions to 3 of the 4 tries to give the visitors a healthy lead at 3-26.
The game was disrupted at half time with the move to uncontested scrums which is becoming an all too frequent feature in this league campaign and needs to be addressed by the rugby authorities. With a healthy lead, the Reds were able to deploy their bench during the second half with appearances by Adam Buckley, Stuart Cunningham, Alex Kenny and Calum Lindsay. The next try proved to be a dream start for Calum Lindsay when Ross Tulloch found him with a well timed pass near half way and Calum showed great determination in outstripping the cover defence and tip toeing up the touch line to dive over in the left hand corner.
Further tries followed at regular intervals as Royal High struggled to make any meaningful attacks whereas the Reds were always on the lookout for long distance attacks from all over the pitch. The next try came after a good catch and drive from a line-out led to the ball being moved towards the posts where Kieran Cochrane managed to get possession and took the direct route through the defence for his 2nd try of the day. Jack Frame added the extra points to take the score up to 3-38. Mark Caddle then completed his own brace of tries when, after making a clean break up the middle, he was stopped short of the try line but the recycled ball was produced by Oscar Davies and Mark spotted a gap and went over easily for the try.
Despite the game being a bit unstructured for the remaining 15 minutes, the Reds showed their adaptability and skill to conjure up 2 further tries. Firstly, Ross Tulloch set off on a lung bursting run which started in his own 22 metre area and he proceeded to avoid or fend off his Royal High pursuers to dive over for a fine individual try. The final try was the gem of the day with a great piece of continuity play between several players. Kieran Cochrane set off in pursuit of his hat trick try but when held he managed a lovely off load to the evergreen Stuart Cunningham and he shipped the ball to Archie Rusack who flipped it to Murray Johnstone who just made the try line in what turned out to be the final action of the day.
Final score: Royal High 3 Linlithgow Reds 53
Another high scoring performance from the table toppers who moved to a 10 out of 10 record so far this season. What is encouraging is the fact that there were 7 separate try scorers and so many others who all seem keen to get on the ball and run in support of their teammates. We also seem to have plugged some of the leaks in defence by only conceding 3 points and no tries in the last 2 games. The dominant pack were denied a normal game after the scrums went uncontested but their line-out play and loose play were both excellent for most of the game. At times the Reds almost had too much ball as the occasional sloppy pass or knock on occurred which we had not seen much of recently. However it is hard to be too critical when a team wins by 50 points.
All of the forwards contributed during the game with the front five all carrying the ball well and their tackling was sound. Ross Martin had his usual solid game despite a 10 minute rest at the referee’s invitation. Kieran Cochrane was probably the stand out player on the day (Kieran was awarded man-of-the-match) and he has really upped his game and it looks like his self belief has grown steadily this season. Alex Kenny always makes an impact off the bench and today was no exception. The back row again performed powerfully as a unit with special mention to Oscar Davies who grasped his opportunity to start the game with both hands and put in an all action performance.
The half backs are really beginning to work well in tandem with Archie Rusack’s work rate and passing game really outstanding. Jack Frame kicked for territory in an assured manner and kept the opposition inside defence honest when taking the ball up to the line and creating space for his outside backs. Murray Johnstone and Ewan Curran both put huge effort into the running game and were also prominent at breakdowns and are forming an increasingly formidable midfield pairing. The back 3 continue to score freely with a combination of strong running and all have a nose for the ball and are available to finish off moves.
Apart from the Try Bonus point, another bonus appeared when main rivals Haddington lost at Langholm. The Reds will not be complacent and Ian McLean, Dougie Thomson and Matt Dixon will prepare the team game by game without looking too far ahead. Next week the Reds host Langholm at 2pm in what is the last home league fixture this season.
Team list:
Calum McKeown, Kyle Ormond, Adam Scott; Ross Martin, Kieran Cochrane; Oscar Davies, Jamie Tulloch and Mark Caddle; Archie Rusack, Jack Frame (c); Ross Plenderleith, Murray Johnstone, Ewan Curran, Luke O’Hara and Ross Tulloch.
Replacements: Adam Buckley, Stuart Cunningham, Alex Kenny and Calum Lindsay
