Stewartry 29 – 30 Linlithgow
Saturday 05 October 2024
Report by Matt Dixon
This was a game that the Reds had in the bag and almost let it slip, with captain Jack Frame slotting a penalty with the last kick of the game to give the Reds a good away win in the Arnold Clark National League division 4 match just outside Castle Douglas.
After the journey down to Dumfries and Galloway, the Reds played the first half into strong wind blowing straight down the pitch. They started well but squandered a well created try opportunity by failing to release overlap players in space, and were punished within a couple of minutes back, when the home team went in under their the posts for a well taken try.
Like the Cup match two seasons ago, both teams were trying to play rugby and keep ball alive. However, in the conditions some typical mistakes were made trying to force offloads in challenging conditions.
The Reds took the lead with a Conor Findlay try, converted by Jack Frame, only for Stewartry to regain the lead a few minutes later with their second unconverted try. The Reds then finished the first half strongly with two well taken tries, the first being an excellent team try finished off by Ewan Curran. Jack Frame slotted the conversion and repeated this following an opportunistic try from the Reds man-of-the-match Euan Mochrie, who picked up from back of an unguarded ruck and ran in to close the half. This gave the Reds a 21-10 half-time lead, with the strong wind behind them for the second half.
However, the Reds struggled to get control of the game in the second half, with pressure being released through poor discipline especially in regard to tackle height – a common problem this season. This eventually led to a yellow card for Colin Devlin after a couple of team warnings for high tackles. This let Stewartry back into the game and they scored three tries, two of them converted, while the Reds only managed one penalty from Jack Frame, giving Stewartry a 29-27 lead with just over 10 minutes to go. Poor discipline, combined with some flaky tackling being the Reds weakness. It could have been very different, as the Reds had two clear chances to close out the game earlier in the half, with the ball being dropped while crossing the line untouched on one occasion and another potentially scoring pass going to deck after a fine Luke O’Hara break.
With time running out the Reds had a penalty to retake the lead, however Jack Frame’s attempt drifted wide. However, fair play to the Reds, they stuck to their task, working hard and pressing the Stewartry defence and got themselves out of jail by winning a penalty for handling in the ruck as the clock ran down. Up stepped captain Jack Frame and he struck the winning penalty with the last kick off game.
Fair play to Stewartry who played conditions well in the second half, however the Reds didn’t make use of the wind and were guilty of overplaying in the middle third. It was great to win on the road against a good team, albeit that it was a scrambled win in the end. Character is not in question, however decision making, first up tackling and tackle height remain work ons.
A big highlight for the Reds saw an emotional Johnny Pegg making his 1st XV debut off the bench being well received by his teammates – the latest player to go from the Wee Reds Micros through to the Reds 1st XV. Well done Johnny!
Summary of the match at Stewartry.
• Try Stewartry 5-0 (15mins)
• Try Conor Findlay 5-5 (27mins)
• Con Jack Frame 5-7
• Try Stewartry 10-7 (32mins)
• Try Euan Curran 10-12 (36 mins)
• Con Jack Frame 10-14
• Try Euan Mochrie 10-19 (40 mins)
• Con Jack Frame 10-21
HALF TIME
• Try Stewartry 15-21 (3mins)
• Pen Jack Frame 15-24 (7mins)
• Try Stewartry 20-24 (10mins)
• Con Stewartry 22-24
• Pen Jack Frame 22-27 (20mins)
• YELLOW Card Colin Devlin (26mins) high tackle
• Try Stewartry 27-27 (27mins)
• Con Stewartry 29-27
• Miss Pen Jack FRAME
• Pen Jack Frame 29-30 (40mins)
