Good away win for U16s at Berwick in Conference opener
Berwick 12 – 53 Linlithgow
Saturday 14 September 2024
Report by Paul Junik
It was an early start for the Reds U16s last Saturday as they travelled to Berwick (upon Tweed) for the first of this year’s conference games. Coming on the back of the win against High School of Dundee in the Schools’ Cup this promised to be an excellent game given Berwick had given us two close matches last season.
Whilst the trip started with a heavy shower as we left Linlithgow by the time we got to Berwick it had turned into a glorious day and the sun was fully in evidence. The only downside there was a strong south-westerly wind blowing diagonally across the pitch which would mean kicking and line-outs were something of a challenge!
With warm up complete, the U16s set up to receive the kick off from Berwick which was a bit of scrappy affair but the ball was won and the forwards and back linked up to move the ball down field with several impressive individual carries. After a handful of phases the ball came out at speed from a ruck an in to the hands of a hard charging Finlay M who proceeded to scythe through the Berwick back line and dot down for the first of Linlithgow tries. Alfie added the two points to make it 0-7 to the visitors. However, that seemed to wake Berwick up and after some crunching tackles they won the ball and some missed tackles from Linlithgow, Berwick were quick to cross the whitewash for their first try. The conversion meant it was even stevens at 7-7. From the restart Linlithgow put pressure on Berwick as they moved the ball and there were several knock-ons which resulted in a scrum It was from one of these and the resultant breakdown that Linlithgow were able to get the ball into Duncan’s hands who had to work hard to get the ball over the line. The try was unconverted so the score was 7-12 to Linlithgow.
The next try came quickly from some loose play by Linlithgow which offered Berwick the chance to cross for well work score coming from quick hands and speedy offloading in the tackle. The try was unconverted and the score was all square at 12 all. While the conditions were almost perfect for attacking rugby the forwards were made to work very hard for every ball in the scrums against a big Berwick pack while the aforementioned wind was making throwing in at the line out extra challenging against a team that were keen to complete for every ball. In the forwards the starting front row of Fraser, Elliot and Daniel all having to put in a shift, while Grieg and Ally M were doing a power of work in the 2nd row and Cameron, Angus C and Finlay M in the back row. The next Linlithgow score came after sustained pressure as the ball was carried deep into the Berwick 22 and then was passed wide along the back line ending up in the hands on Angus who had to work hard to make sure that he got that ball down for try. The try was unconverted and the score was 12-17. After this the game settled into more of a pattern with both sides making good advances but several knock-ons by both teams turned the ball over. However, as the first half drew to a close the ball made its way out to along the back line eventually getting to Duncan who crossed the for his second of the half. The wind played its part again and the conversion was missed bringing the score to 12-22.
The second half saw some early changes in the forwards with Cameron C, Micah and Calum D making an early impact. In the backs Joe came on at No.9 after a strong first half by Max. The back line also saw Scott, Finlay M and Jayden entering the fray for the first time. The second half was largely one way traffic from Linlithgow who added a further five tries with one a piece for Finlay M and Joe with Ally B running in a hat trick against a tiring Berwick defence. Alfie knocked over three of the conversions to bring the final score to 12-53 to Linlithgow. All credit to Berwick who battled on the end in the face of some strong Linlithgow interplay, however there is definitely some room for improvement. But this was a good result on the road!
It was a difficult decision on man-of-the-match, Ally B was a contender with his three tries and Duncan with his brace. It was great to see Angus get on the score board as a reward for his hard work and it was fantastic to see Jayden and Micah in their first competitive starts in a conference game. However, this weeks MotM goes to Finlay M who dug deep and offered a real attacking threat that Berwick had their hands full trying to contain.