Young Reds S2s record first competitive win of the season
Morrison’s 21-38 Linlithgow
Saturday 6th September 2025
Report by Jeremy Bone
Linlithgow S2s travelled to Crieff looking for their first win of the season and it was Morrison’s Academy who got the game underway on a mild and dry morning in Perthshire.
In the early stages of the game Linlithgow were flying into tackles and had to defend in numbers to propel the home side as they attacked in waves.
However, when they got their hands on the ball, Linlithgow passed it around well and made some nice offloads. With just a few minutes on the clock, Callum and Scott won the ball back and Linlithgow won a penalty, which took them up into the Morrison’s half.
A big bombarding run from Scott then took Linlithgow deep inside the Morrison’s half and a few phases later the ball was in Callum’s hands, and he powered over for the opening try of the game. The conversion was missed, but Linlithgow were 5-0 up.
From the re-start the ball was knocked on by the home side and Nathan did well to dive on the ball to win possession back and then from a resulting knock-on by the home side, Linlithgow had the put-in at the scrum just outside the Morrison’s 22. A break by Rory from the scrum took Linlithgow into the 22 and they then won a penalty.
Max kicked to within five metres of the Morrison’s line and the ball was passed out to Logan who powered towards the line and managed to stretch his arm out to score. Rory converted and Linlithgow led 12-0 after 13 mins.
Once again, Linlithgow did well to win possession back from the re-start and then they won a penalty. From a quick tap and go just outside the Morrison’s 22 the ball eventually got to Max who dived over in the corner. Nathan’s conversion made it 19-0 to the visitors.
A huge tackle from Joe stopped a Morrison’s attack with their pacy winger tearing down the touchline and Linlithgow re-gained possession. However, a forward pass stopped them in their tracks. From the resulting line-out the ball was knocked on and Linlithgow could build again from a scrum just inside their half.
Possession was changing hands regularly and when a Morrison’s player was able to find himself in some space just inside the Linlithgow half, he was able to run in their first try, which was duly converted after 22 mins to make it 7-19.
The home side had the wind in their sails and were passing the ball around well, but Linlithgow continued to put in some big tackles to repel them.
After 24 minutes, Linlithgow won a penalty and a huge kick from Max took them deep inside the Morrison’s half once more.
Archie then broke and after some quick passing by Joe, Nathan, Struan and Rory, they won a penalty. Rory passed the ball to Scott and he powered over under the posts for their fourth try. Rory converted to make it 7-26 with just three minutes of the first-half to play and that was the last score of the half, with Linlithgow leading by 19 points at the break.
Linlithgow got the second-half underway and when the ball landed in the hands of one of the home players, he broke up the centre of the pitch. But Linlithgow did really well to get back quickly and win a penalty five metres from their own line which they kicked to touch.
The home side were trying to get them themselves back into the game, but from deep inside his own half, Scott motored up the pitch and powered his way into the Morrison’s 22 to give Linlithgow their first opportunity of the half. A resulting penalty was kicked to within five metres of the Morrison’s line, but the visitors just couldn’t find a way over on this occasion.
Five minutes into the second-half Linlithgow were awarded a scrum just outside the Morrison’s 22 after some “handbags” between the players.
Rory in his unfamiliar position of scrum-half broke, passed the ball to Nathan who ran down the touchline and a couple of phases later Callum powered his way towards the line and stretched out his arm to score Linlithgow’s fifth try of the game. Rory’s conversion made it 33-7 with seven minutes of the second-half played.
The home side immediately knocked on after really good pressure from Linlithgow to win a scrum just outside the Morrison’s 22.
From the resulting scrum, Rory broke once again and got the ball to Harvey who ran down the touchline and almost got through the home side’s defence, but his foot narrowly went into touch and the attack broke down.
Logan and Jack did well to win the ball back and quick hands by Tom, Brodie, Logan and Fin took Linlithgow to within 10 meters of the home side’s line. The ball eventually got out to Archie who dived over to make it 38-7 to the visitors. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful, but Linlithgow had a commanding lead after 12 minutes of the second-half.
Moments later, Morrison’s broke up field and scored a converted try to make it 14-38 and they powered over for their third try of the day with five minutes left to play, with the conversion making it 21-38 to Linlithgow.
Morrison’s continued to put pressure on Linlithgow and won a line-out five metres from the visitors’ line but the men in red and black did really well to put pressure on the home side and drive them back.
An injury to Jack towards the end of the game brought the proceedings to an early finish and Linlithgow left Crieff with their first competitive win of the Caley/East Conference, beating Morrison’s 38-21. Everyone would like to wish Jack all the best with his recovery and we hope to see him back on the pitch soon.