Poor tackling ends Reds’ hopes of upset
North Berwick cash in
Linlithgow Reds fell just short of causing a major upset as they lost 38- 26 away to promotion hopefuls North Berwick.
The Reds made the trip unusually not knowing when the match was due to kick off since both clubs were unable to agree.
In the end the home side made a small concession and the game kicked off ten minutes early to allow for travel to Murrayfield for the Scotland game later that day.
In brilliant sunshine, Linlithgow kicked off against the very cold breeze and with their first carry they scored through Rab Cairns after good work by Mark Green.
Cairns converted his own try then a minute later went over in the corner, this time missing the conversion.
The home side were shellshocked and immediately kicked into action, scoring an unconverted try in the corner before levelling the scores minutes later.
Linlithgow were under pressure now, seemingly unable to deal with the strong North Berwick forwards with the hosts taking the lead midway through the first half with another try before making it four unanswered tries to put themselves in a commanding position.
It was now Linlithgow’s turn to be stunned into a reaction and they were able to reduce the gap before the interval as they were awarded a penalty try, making it 26-19.
The second half was a fairly even affair with neither side able to create many scoring chances.
As the half wore on, good work from Sean Hagerty enabled Green to score a great try which was converted by Cairns to level the scores at 26-26.
The next try was always going to be crucial at that point and sadly for the Reds it came the way of North Berwick and, just to add salt to the wounds, they would score again in the final seconds of the clash to take away a losing bonus point for the visitors which they certainly deserved for their efforts.
Ultimately, Linlithgow’s defending inside their own 22 has to be looked at as a deciding factor in the game as five of North Berwick’s six tries were as a result of poor tackling from the Reds, something that can’t be done if you are to defeat the top teams in the division.
There’s no game this weekend but the club’s Second XV, who made it 11 wins from 11 this term with a 39-22 triumph over Stewarts Melville Third XV, have an away clash against Lismore/Portobello as they aim to make it a dozen wins in a row.