S2s excellent start to season
Match reports from two pre-season games
Home vs Marr
Saturday 16 August 2025
Report by Stuart Taylor
The S2’s kicked off their pre season by hosting Marr on a dry and firm Lower mains park. Hats off to Marr for making the trip from Ayrshire to give the boys a chance to brush away the cobwebs. Marr arrived at Linlithgow with a fearsome reputation having won all of their league games last season. Unfortunately for Marr the fixture coincided with an Ayrshire scout camp and the visitors could only muster 12 players for the game, none the less a 12 a side fixture was better than no fixture.
With no flankers and no full backs, lower mains park looked spacious. This space, combined with the dry firm conditions was relished by the speedsters in both packs at the prospect of running rugby and run they did!
The hosts were first to score with Joe going over at the corner and Rory claiming the extras with a confident kick. Marr responded by puncturing Linlithgow’s defence and ran in a try below the posts, they repeated this exercise a further four times! The only, slim conciliation for Linlithgow was Marr failed to convert two of their 5 tries in the first quarter. The Marr tries were shared between two of their large and fast playmakers who seemed to score in shifts and inflicted insult and injury on the Linlithgow pack displaying rugby nous beyond their years. The open play of the 12 a side game was certainly favouring Marr more than Linlithgow at this stage. With the hosts trailing by 24 points at the start of the 2nd quarter you couldn’t help but marvel at the level of belief in the reds squad when overhearing shouts of we’ve still got this guys. A Remarkable change in mind-set from the same team 1 year prior on the same pitch.
Linlithgow came out flying in the second quarter with a herculean try form Logan who was certainly first on the list for the man of the match trophy. Rory converted with aplomb. One of Marr’s prodigious players crossed the line for their only try of the second quarter. Linlithgow went on to score a further 2 tries courtesy of Rory and Callum. Nathan joined Rory to maintain the reds flawless conversion kick rate. Having won the second quarter and clawed their way back to within 10 points of the visitors, Linlithgow had clearly now gained the respect of a strong Marr side.
A couple of carbon copy Marr tries whereby Marrs broke through at the outset of the 3rd quarter put paid to a glorious come back and dampened but didn’t diminish the belief within the reds pack . With crunching tackles going in from Lucas, Archie, Callum and Jay. After a series of clever interplays with Callum , Rory’s optimism anddetermination was rewarded as he went over for a try at the corner. Credit to Max who converted from a tricky position. Marr ran in a final long distance try which they converted with ease and headed in to the final break with a 24 point lead again.
It was clear that the bulk of the Marr pack were tiring at the outset of the final quarter, however their two stand out players looked infuriatingly fresh at the restart. With some text book last minute off loads the tackled Linlithgow players were rapidly on their feet and regrouped quicker than the visitors. With all the timing of well executed Mexican wave the ball travelled the width of the field flawlessly and arrived at Nathan who ran in a great try which he then converted.
Marr’s playmakers added two tries converting only one in the final quarter. Further excellent link up play from Linlithgow with Rory at the centre of a number of line breaking runs crossing the whitewash for his hat trick try which he of course converted. Scott made a few trademark runs throughout the match but had been thwarted by an alert Marr defence on a few occasions until the closing minutes of the game when he broke through for the final try of the game below the posts. Max slotted the final conversion over to claim maximum points from the boot.
Special mention to Nathan, Rory and Max who each showed excellent composure with their kicking game collectively slotting home 8 out of 8 spot kicks.
Unfortunately for Linlithgow Marr inflicted the majority of the damage in the 1st quarter with the scores for each quarter as follows:
1st quarter: Linlithgow 7 – 31 Marr
2nd quarter: Linlithgow 21 – 7 Marr
3rd quarter: Linlithgow 7 – 21 Marr
Final quarter: Linlithgow 21 – 12 Marr
This was a high scoring game played at a high tempo, exhausting for the players and supporters a like. Lots of takeaways and lessons learned. At the end of the match there was special mention to Logan who displayed tireless ball carrying combined with excellent handling and crunching tackles. The nominated man of the match this week was Rory (pictured) who intelligently navigated the pitch, exploiting gaps and made well timed off loads in combination with a flawless kicking game contributing 23 points to the team’s total. Having a lost a hard fought 1st game the S2’s still had sufficient team spirit for a rendition of happy birthday for one of their four dedicated coaches.
The resilience, camaraderie and spirit within this team is evident for all to see, something that will stand them in good stead for the season ahead.
Away at Melrose Tournament
Saturday 23 August 2025
Report by Alan Hunter
With players, coaches and parents thinking this was a non-playing weekend, a last-minute invite to Melrose, a town steeped in rugby history for a tournament saw enthusiasm sky high with a huge effort being made by all to adjust diaries and send a team down.
Pool 1 – Melrose, Hawick, Gala; Pool 2 – Kelso, Jedburgh, Linlithgow
We were in the heart of Borders rugby and the only team from “up north” as we warmed up in the shadow of the Eildon hills with the bodies and air temperatures increasing rapidly. The pitch was in great condition considering the lack of rain and there wasn’t a breath of wind. It was going to be 2 fast paced 15-minute games against our pool opponents to determine our league position.
Linlithgow 17 – 0 Jedburgh
From an early line out on Jed’s 10m line Callum was straight on the charge before feeding Scott when he eventually stopped making progress who finished the move off with a fantastic try combining two of our powerhouses. Max was surprised his kicking tee got marched off the pitch but the drop goal conversion didn’t phase him and he struck it between the uprights.
Jed were pressing but our defensive line was up quick resulting in fumbles and knock ons which unsettled Jed even more. Struan and Ruaridh were taking turn about to make ground in the forwards when the ball was released to Callum who ran a diagonal to the left wing before feeding Finlay for the second try.
Joe seized the moment when all the momentum was with Jed and pounced on the interception taking it up to the halfway line. Our tackling was immense as we weathered the storm before another penetrating run from Joe at full back got us back in their half. Nathan on the right wing done the damage and Logan was over for a third. Archie’s ferocious tackling throughout the game resulted in the aggravation of an injury leaving him out of action.
NOTE: Jed went on to be beaten by Hawick in the final.
Linlithgow 0 – 7 Kelso
There were changes in the team due to the effort everyone had made resulting in some substitutes being available. Brodie was making some hard tackles in the centre of the field and Max was having to put in clearance kicks to relieve the pressure. Kelso scored the only try of the match by feeding their right wing who made a superb run to get in and then behind the posts, meaning the conversion was an easy one. The right wing was soon involved again but a tackle and jackaled turnover from Lucas got the ball, allowing Blair to feed the backs from a caterpillar ruck. Kelso basically shut up shop at this point and although we were pressing near the end of the game we just couldn’t get through their sizeable backs although Rory linking with Nathan came very close just before the final whistle resulting in a penalty that we just couldn’t capitalise on. The frustration was there to be seen on the players faces while a lengthy debrief took place with the coaches, as we all tried to work out what we were going to play for in the next game.
Finals
We placed second in Pool 2 (missing the final by 2 points difference!), meaning our 3rd / 4th place game was against Melrose from the opposite pool.
Linlithgow 12 – 5 Melrose
Our “final” was for 3rd place and the Young Reds pulled it off through determination, belief and hard work against the home side. From an early line out Blair held the ball while he made his way across field to release Scott who charged through yet again. The backs took it from there to the left wing where Finlay had to pass as he evaded a tackle and Tom was so unlucky not to take the ball cleanly for what would have been their first score. Melrose were under pressure at the breakdown and being forced to hang on to the ball resulting in a penalty that was punished by Max’s boot. Jack threw in from hooker and ran around into the backline to make a progress himself with the ball but Joe was held on the line before a flying Logan took it over the ruck for an outstanding team try, which was converted by Rory. A few decisions weren’t going our way as the game moved on but a take from Callum and subsequent Z shaped run of around 80m to score left us with a healthy lead. The only Melrose try came from having a four man overlap on the right and somehow still managing to scorer on the left! They kept trying this same overlap which we were missing being set up, as we were sucked in as we defended where the ball was knowing what was at stake. Melrose just couldn’t get the ball to hand along the line and we finished off a hugely entertaining game with sighs of relief.
Struan’s work rate through the day so him receive the man of the matches award.
The physical strength and conditioning from all the players showed through, as did their mental tenacity as they approached the third game, continuing a very successful run of form away to the border clubs from last season to this.