Experienced StewMel bench swings the game away from the Reds 2s

Stewarts Melville 2s 48 – 19 Linlithgow 2s

Saturday 25 January 2025

Match report by Des Martin

Eventually we departed for this away fixture with a full squad thanks to the inclusion of three age qualified school 1st XV players. Lewis McGill, Cammy McHardy and Alfie Muir all were keen to play after their U18 East Cup game versus Watsons had been called off just at KO. The Coach immediately slotted Cammy McHardy into loose head and Lewis McGill into the back row, as injuries and unavailability had deprived him of some of his regulars.

The game started brightly at Inverleith with a strong breeze and bright sunshine. The Reds were playing into the wind and away from the road. Some good play resulted in Gregor McLean and Ally Walker gaining ground. It was a scrum to Linlithgow and the ball was fed from Roulston to McLean to Callum Lindsay who made a strong run up the left wing. The Reds were penalised and the hooker who has had previous disagreements with the ref was penalised for making his opinions known. The opposition eventually got another penalty and kicked the points (3-0 to Stewarts Melville).

The Reds were playing good rugby but unfortunately lost three tries from mistakes by ourselves. Alex Dunlop, who was playing at tight head as a favour, scored a very good try which took work on his part after we had put a bit of pressure on StewMel just before halftime. Not converted and the score was 19-5 in favour of StewMel at the break.

We were turning round to play with the wind and towards the road. We started well and before long, with Uggs McCartney at scrum half and Alfie Muir coming on at centre both were involved in a nice backs move. After good ball coming from the forwards Gregor McLean at stand off looped round from the centres and accelerated into the space and between the posts for a fine try, which he converted himself (19-12 to the home side).    

This try inspired the team and with Lewis McGill, Jonny Pegg and Cammy McHardy all working really hard and carrying well the ball was moved down field. A good line-out take by Neil Lockhart resulted in the ball coming into the midfield. Ewan Curran then made a strong run from inside centre, cutting inside after beating the first man, resulting in a fine solo try between the posts, which was converted by Gregor McLean to tie the scores at 19-19.

However, this only stung StewMel into acting with authority. The coaches brought on a few experienced older players who used their knowledge to intimidate by carrying strongly at our young players. The Linlithgow lads were also tiring having lost their talisman captain and top tackler early in the second half they conceded a number of soft scores. The scores kept creeping up and at the final whistle Stewart’s had scored 48 points to our 19.

The final result doesn’t reflect the game, but we ran out of steam and experience against a good side sitting second in the table. Everyone acquitted themselves well, particularly the first timers to senior rugby. A few more games and they will be loving senior rugby.  Hopefully they will get a chance before the season is over.

Linlithgow Team

To the list below add Alfie Muir, Lewis McGill and Cammy McHardy