High scoring Reds demolish North Berwick in a 12 try romp
North Berwick 10 – 80 Linlithgow
Saturday 8th February 2025
Report by David Mitchell with photos courtesy of Graham Black
Recreation Park North Berwick was the venue for the latest Reds outing in Arnold Clark National League Division 4. Having triumphed by 83-0 in the earlier fixture between the sides, the visitors were wary of a backlash from the home side, but this never materialised.
Good playing and overhead conditions greeted both sides and there was a decent away support including a convoy of Camper Vans and a trainload of the TGIF group! The Reds made some enforced changes from the previous game v Dunfermline with Oscar Davies, Euan Mochrie and Luke O’Hara all unavailable. Eioan Magee returned in the 2nd row with Kieran Cochrane dropping into the back row and Ross Martin resuming at No 8. There were also welcome places on the bench for high scoring Calum Lindsay and a debut for 17-year-old Lewis McGill, shown in photo above with Reds captain and man-of-the-match Jack Frame.
The Reds started the game with a bang and were 2 tries ahead within 5 minutes. After some excellent build up play provided some good ball, slick passing sent Cammy Murrie in for 2 tries both converted by Jack Frame. The home side did respond with an unconverted try but the visitors soon stretched their lead with a try from Ru Stewart after another clean phase of passing created space out wide.
The tries continued to flow with Cammy Murrie kicking over the defence to allow Ross Tulloch to dive on the ball over the line. Ru Stewart added another try closely followed by a try from captain Jack Frame as the visitors piled on the pressure. Jack added 3 more conversions to take the score to 5-40 at half time although he had an extended break when yellow carded by the referee.
The 1st half had been dominated by all 6 tries coming down the wide out right-hand channel and were all scored by backs, but special mention must go to the forward pack who created solid scrum and line-out platforms. In addition, there was some excellent driving play in the loose with many ball carriers and in particular Ross Martin, Jamie Tulloch and Fraser Mochrie were outstanding.
The only blip in the 1st half was the team getting drawn into some scrappy midfield play when the obvious route to points was exploiting the wide channels but some credit should go to the North Berwick team who fought bravely against superior opposition.
For the start of the 2nd half, the Reds introduced 17-year-old Lewis McGill for his debut and his 1st action was to scythe down the North Berwick 2nd row forward with a textbook tackle. By this point in the game, the Reds had deployed all 4 replacements with Aiden Mochrie, Stuart Cunningham and Calum Lindsay entering the fray in addition to Lewis McGill.
The 2nd half took a while to get going as the home side tried to gain some territory and play again got a bit scrappy. However, when they remembered to move the ball wide and early the Reds immediately scored a try. Ross Tulloch made good ground from his own half and gave a well-timed pass to Jack Frame supporting on his inside and he outstripped the defence to score under the posts. The tries began to flow at regular intervals during the half with Fraser Mochrie galloping over after a lung bursting 30 metre run to the line.
North Berwick did get another try following a tap penalty, but normal service was resumed with the most popular try of the day when debutant Lewis McGill showed real strength and determination to battle his way over the line much to the delight of his fellow players and the travelling support. Almost straight from the restart, Ru Stewart completed a personal hat trick of tries when he took a scoring pass from Ross Tulloch and glided over in the corner.
Replacement winger Calum Lindsay was determined to get in on the try scoring act and he burst through several tackles to score next to the posts. His try scoring efforts have been worthy of mention all season and it was great to see him on the scoresheet again today.
The final act of scoring fell to Ross Tulloch, who was involved in many of the tries scored, when he dotted down wide out for the 12th and last try. Jack Frame converted 5 out of 6 kicks in the 2nd half giving him a personal haul of 30 points in the game.
Final score – North Berwick 10 – 80 Linlithgow Reds
Another thumping win for the Reds as they consolidated their 4th place position in NL 4 with 37 points and chasing 3rd place Dunfermline who have 41points.
The strength of the squad was very evident with the absence of 3 key players being easily overcome with many strong performances. Calum McKeown and Andrew Graham both carried well in loose play as well as holding their own and eventually dominating their opposite numbers in set play. Kyle Ormond’s throwing was very solid and again he played his part in open play. Eioan Magee and Fraser Mochrie formed a strong 2nd row, and both had several aggressive carries that knocked the defence back on occasions. The back row was very effective with both Jamie Tulloch and Ross Martin showing fine touches in both attack and defence and Ross took almost every line-out ball thrown to him. Kieran Cochrane enjoyed his outing in the back row and put in some spectacular tackles as well as carrying effectively.
The backs had the proverbial field day with players lining up to finish off passing moves. Braces of tries from Cammy Murrie, Ross Tulloch and Jack Frame were only surpassed by Ru Stewart’s hat trick. Archie Rusack and Conor Findlay provided a clean supply of ball and kept the team going forward. Conor individually saved a possible 14 points for North Berwick when he raced back to chop down the right winger twice after 2 interceptions. Murray Johnstone failed to get a try, but his midfield distribution and general tidy play created the platform for the outside backs.
All the replacements got game time, and it was good to see youngsters like Aiden Mochrie, Lewis McGill and Calum Lindsay showing that they belong in this level of rugby. Final mention to Stuart Cunningham who always shows his positional versatility as he continues to plough a furrow up field with ball in hand.
Next Saturday sees Greenock Wanderers visit on NL4 business. This is another great opportunity to cement the Reds’ league position, and a good crowd is expected for the 2pm start at Mains Park.
The 2nd XV concludes their own Reserve League campaign away to Boroughmuir 3rd XV and a win for the Reds will guarantee them 3rd place in their league.