Youth Section – weekend roundup 16th-17th September

Linlithgow S1 40-24 Lasswade

Linlithgow S1 welcomed their Lasswade counterparts to the bottom pitch for the first home conference match of the season. Linlithgow fielded a strong squad with 15 available and Lasswade featuring a squad of 20.
A strong start by Linlithgow resulted in the ball being passed wide from a scrum and following a powerful break by Callum D and release of the ball to Callum P who scored a great team try.

At the restart all the boys showed good defence with several strong tackles, including a thumper by new boy Archie H, put pressure on Lasswade. Linlithgow recovered the ball and again moved it through the hands to Gregor W who jinxed his way over the line.  Great to see an understanding by forwards and backs of the importance of getting the ball into space.

Again after some strong straight running and quick ball from Jack S to Callum P released the ball for Gregor W to scored his second.  Not long after Gregor W had his hat trick after weaving his way through the Lasswade defence.

With all the forwards working hard in defence, Lasswade were counter rucked  and following a couple of strong running lines by the pack, who kept the ball alive, Callum P breezed in under the posts.

Unfortunately the boys lost concentration which allowed the Lasswade runners time on the ball resulting in a couple of scores. It appeared that Linlithgow had forgotten how to tackle and allowed Lasswade to get back into the game. Luckily on one of their attacks the ball was dropped and kicked through by Jamie with Callum P following up with a couple of deft grubber kicks to dot down for his hat trick.

Lasswade scored a late try before an exhausted referee called time.
Overall a great performance from the boys who are developing an understanding of the game. A special mention going to Fraser for his 100% conversation success.

Keep up the good work boys.

Linlithgow S2 49-22 Lasswade

There were concerns that the heavy rain in the 24 hours before this match would dampen the spirits for this match – there was no need to worry!

Upper Mains pitch was in great condition and both teams arrived intent on playing rugby and utilizing their full squads.

S2 generally start well against Lasswade– this was the case again today with Linlithgow scoring 2 early converted tries and winning the first half 4 tries to one.  James scored the first try after some strong passing through the backs (a feature throughout the match) converted by Fergus. We then moved the ball through a series of phases with Rory crossing over the line utilising his physical strength with Fergus converting again. At times our defensive pressure was very strong and this led to Fergus capturing an interception try. Another mazy run from Euan on the wing was finished by James. Both tries were converted by Euan. Our structure, support and counter rucking was very strong – all areas we had worked on at training.

The half was far from one-sided with Lasswade enjoying long periods of possession and following some resilient Linlithgow defence (highlighted with Callum’s try saving tackle on the line) Lasswade scored a deserved try with the final move of the half. Unfortunately, we lost Zack W to injury tackled after a strong run shortly after coming on.

The 2nd half was more balanced with both sides scoring 3 tries each and Linlithgow shading the scoring with 3 conversions to 1. Fergus made another break and was stopped just short of the line but Callum was on hand with support and scored from the offload, Fergus converted.

Then came play of the day (reminiscent of South Africa vs Scotland) with a cross field kick from Archie finished by Fergus in the corner – superb! Fergus converted again.

Our play became slightly disjointed, we lost some concentration and structure with more missed tackles. This led to sustained pressure on our line. 2 missed tackles resulted in Lasswade scores before Blair scored an excellent breakaway try – running at least 50m to score, with Euan adding another 2 points. On a different day we might have used more clearance kicks from our own 22 to relieve the pressure.

Overall we were victors by 7 tries to 4 – well done to our kickers who were successful with all conversions.

We had been working on support at the rucks and this was much better but there were still phases where this could be sharper. We will continue to work on fitness and decision making, especially in situations where it might be better to pass wide rather than cut inside. Our tackling generally was much better but there was still an inclination to go too high on the stronger opposition runners.

Special mention goes out to Rory who had another outstanding game from second row, to Jason who had a number of strong runs, Will for positioning and passing in the backline, Ethan Short for tough tackling and Blair who kept focused and punished Lasswade with strong attack and defence. Fred started his first game for the S2 team and settled in seamlessly.

From a coach’s perspective it was fantastic to have a squad of 21 players all contributing significantly to this game, and the drills we have been practicing in training becoming apparent in games. Parents and players were both commenting on how much the squad has improved in the last 12 months in the post-game debrief!

Squad (all playing): Ali, Archie, Blair, Callum, Eric, Ethan McN, Ethan S, Euan, Fergus, Finlay, Fred, Jack, James, Jamie, Jason, Lyle, Matthew, Rory, Will, Zac N, Zack W.

Lasswade 7-50 Linlithgow S3

This week took us to Lasswade for our second conference game of the season.  We arrived early to find the skies brightening and the pitches starting to dry out.  However, more than one spectator still seemed disappointed that the game was to be played on the far pitch, denying them the opportunity to sit in the covered stand.

So with spectators ready, we kicked off.  Lasswade launched the ball skyward and it came down into Duncan’s safe hands.  He took the ball forward, off-loaded to Fraser W who found Ewan.  The ruck formed and we sucked in the Lasswade defence and then “pulled the trigger”.  The ball went wide through the hands and made its way to Thomas who was happy to score the try.  We were off.

The second try was a solo effort from Finlay who took the ball from the kick off, pinned his ears back and ran.  He was too strong for the Lasswade defence and put the ball down as soon as he crossed the line.

2 tries up in the first few minutes gave us the opportunity to relax into the game.  And at this point the boys took complete control and started to play some magical rugby.  Joe set the tempo at scrum half, as hungry pods of forwards appeared outside him, screaming for the ball.  Joe fed them well and we made ground, battering the Lasswade defence in the process.  This was straight off the training ground and it was great to see the boys putting this into action in the game, building on what they did the previous weekend.  The next try came from a serious bout of pressure on Lasswade, with Scott showing some hard running, scattering at least one of the Lasswade defenders.  Following a line out Lasswade attempted a clearance kick which fell to Ewan, he quickly offloaded to Thomas who was in for his second.

The next try went to Duncan after some good work from Fraser W at a Lasswade lineout.  It then wasn’t long before Alfie scored after a good decision from Joe to go blind after a turnover from a messy Lasswade scrum.  Try number 6 went to Liam (who joined us from S4 and will be joining us on a regular basis next season.). Thomas took it from the kick off and fed Liam who took it at pace and just didn’t slow down.

Finlay then picked up his second of the game and Ali Mc followed soon after after a crashball move.  Again our structure looked good and Joe continued to feed the pods of forwards who stormed up the pitch at times, sucking in and tiring the Lasswade defence before the backs took over to spin the ball wide and wreak havoc.  Ewan finished the scoring in the first half with a well read intercept try. 

At this point the game was won as we had scored 50 points.  We offered Lasswade the opportunity to turn this into a training game, but they were keen to continue, deciding that they had more to gain from playing together as a team.

The second half saw us score a further 9 tries.  There are a few that thoroughly deserve a mention.  One attack saw us move the ball across the pitch to the left, as it came back towards the right, it came to Alexander who made a direct run and was over to score.  Hugh also found himself on the scoresheet, after a break from Liam who passed on to Jay who found Hugh in the right place at the right time to take it on to score.  Further tries went to Finlay, Ewan, Ali B, Thomas (2), Liam (2) and Duncan.  Lasswade finally got their consolation try in the final minutes with their big prop scampering down the left hand touchline to barrel over and round behind the posts.

This was a great team performance. We held our structure well built on last week’s performance.  This was a game whose foundations came from the strength of our pack both at the scrum and in the loose.  For those who didn’t find themselves on the score sheet this week, Elliot was as strong as ever over the ball; Fraser w made good meters wit the ball in hand; Cameron, Connor and Morgan had their best games yet as their understanding of the game grows, alongside their physicality; Greg was simply immense.  In the backs, Angus made good use of his side step; Scott and Fraser H both had strong games at full back and it was good to see Rory back on the pitch after injury.  Hopefully his exertion hasn’t delayed his long term recovery.

Player of the match this week goes to Greg.  He made some fantastic hard hitting tackles and secured our ball in the loose.  It was also great to see him charging up the pitch ball in hand, curly locks flowing behind him as more than one of the Lasswade defenders struggled to bring him to the ground.

West Of Scotland 19-7 Linlithgow U18

The U18’s travelled, this holiday weekend to West of Scotland in Milngavie. They asked for a training, type game as they had a large squad so we agreed to play three, twenty minute sessions.

The Glasgow boys turned out to be larger and faster about the pitch and we were beaten 19-7. 

After the first third, we were 12-7 down with West scoring first after just five minutes but we hit back through Jack, our winger after 10 minutes and Ruairi slotted the kick. Just before the close of the first third, West crossed our line again and converted.

The second third was closely fought although we were being pushed back in scrums and breakdowns.  West scored and converted after 11 minutes and that was the last scoring of the game. 19-7 as the last third, although was end to end had no scores. We lost Captain Johnny to injury as well as Caiden at full back during the second third of the game so we used both of our only subs. West seemed to replenish their 15 every third although they were deserved winners today. Stronger and faster, so we need to learn how to deal with these types of situations better. Some great individual moments from our guys but more “team” for next week!