Match Report: Haddington RFC vs. Leith Rugby Saturday 21st October 2023

Haddington went into the match on Saturday against Leith having lost their 100% winning record, after the defeat away to league leaders Linlithgow last Saturday. With only two points separating Linlithgow and Haddington, it was all to play for as Haddington hosted Leith at Neilson Park.

With front-rowers Kevin Quinn and Kyle Munro both unavailable, Robert “Rab” Watt made his start at loose-head, while Colin Stuart returned from an injury sustained in the Wooden Spoon tournament to take the hooker position.

In the backline, Andy Durkin reclaimed the inside centre shirt, with Ewan Cunningham being selected on the wing, in place of James Dewar who dropped to the bench.

After the destruction of Storm Babet, Neilson Park held up extremely well and the Winters sun even made an appearance!
The visitors won the toss and opted to kick off playing up the hill, into the wind for the first half.

The home side drew the first blood, with hooker Colin Stuart taking a lovely pass of Donald Bathgate from the half break. With the conversion secured, Haddington led 7-0 with 6-minutes of play gone.

With the wind in their backs, Haddington were awarded a lineout, just inside the Leith half. The ball was then distributed to the backline and Ewan Cunningham came bursting into the line to create the overlap and feed his fellow winger, Paul McClung, who sprinted over the try line. With the conversion missed, the scores stood at 12-0.

Ewan Cunningham was rewarded for his assist shortly after however, with the winger bagging a try out wide. In some testing conditions for the kickers, Bathgate was able to slot the tough conversion and take the scores to 19-0.

Credit must be given to Leith as the away side continued to put the pressure on Haddington late into the first half. Pinned on the Haddington try line, their forward pack kept picking and going. Unfortunately for Haddington, the referee had warned the home side that the next infringement from the Reds would be a yellow card. True to his word, Haddington were deemed to be offside and Donald Bathgate was sent to the cooler for 10-minutes. Leith opted for the sticks and the gap was reduced to 19-3.

Half-end

With Haddington now playing up the hill and into the wind, the Reds knew they had to get the scoreboard ticking in their favour again. It wasn’t to be however, as Haddington were penalised just inside their own 22-meter line to give the Leith number 10 an easy kick at goal. With the penalty secured, the scores sat at 19-6.

It took until the 55-minute mark for Haddington to secure the bonus point, as the backs create some space out wide and Ben Moffat produced a fantastic draw and pass to allow McClung to sail through. 24-6.

With 25-minutes left on the clock, there was still plenty of action to come from the game. Unfortunately for Leith, they were on the receiving end of a red card and reduced down to 14-men and Haddington also finished the game with 14-men as winger, James Dewar received a yellow card. A flurry of four further tries came from the home side, with the away side managing to grab three in the final quarter.

Final score Haddington 48 – Leith 25

Next up, Haddington travel to Portobello who will be full of confidence after their convincing win down in the Borders by beating Langholm 52-21.
Our thanks must go match day sponsors, Clifford Livingstone and Stevie Hill.

Haddington Man of the Match was awarded to Ewan Cunningham (sponsored by Iain Chisholm).