Comeback Win For Knox At Musselburgh

The players awoke to heavy rain and probably the forlorn hope that the game might be cancelled and they could spend another hour or two in bed. However, the pitches at Pinkie were firm and the game was on. Musselburgh were short of a few players so Benedict Elliot, Alasdair Macfarlane and Mark Armstrong helped out to make sure we had a fifteen a side game.

Straight from the kick off, Knox looked the stronger team. The ball was slippery so a lot of short drives saw Knox press their way up to Musselburgh's 22 where they stayed for most of the first half. Eventually, Gregor Booth was released into space through good handling and one side step later he was through for the first try of the game.

Straight from the kick off Knox pressed again with some good breaks by George Green, Danny Sked and Josh Middlemiss, but their pressure was released when they gave away a penalty near Musselburgh's line. The defence switched off, thinking it was going to be kicked to touch, and Musselburgh broke the length of the pitch only to be stopped on the line by a try-saving tackle by Finn Connell.

Half time - Musselburgh 0 : Knox Academy 5

Straight from the kick off, Knox received the ball and kicked away possession. This was taken on by Musselburgh's full-back, their most dangerous player, who ran straight back at the defence and after a few passes, they squeezed over in the corner to tie the game.

Musselburgh's tails were up and only some stout defending by Ewan Jack, James Martin, Kyle Eadie and Danny Sked held them out. Knox finally stole the ball in one Musselburgh attack, but a poor clearance kick ended up in the Musselburgh full-back's hands who ran back and suddenly Knox were behind.

Worse was to come as Simon Duke had to leave the pitch after a minor strain. However, Knox had plenty of time left on the clock and went back to basics to drive up the pitch and camp out in Musselburgh's half. After a number of careless knock ons, James Dewar eventually got the ball in space and sprinted over to tie the game.

Knox were now the team on the up and they again drove back into the Musselburgh half. The forwards were beginning to establish control and a strong run from Josh Middlemiss made good yards only for the ball to be knocked on again over the line. Middlemiss picked up a nasty knee injury at this point so we wish him well in his recovery. However, Knox kept pressing and with 5 minutes to go, eventually Mattie Horsburgh passed the ball out from a ruck to Fraser Wright who sold a quick dummy and darted over for the decisive score.

A frustrating day for the coaches with lots of basic errors made, but good heart shown by the boys to come back from behind to win the game in the last few minutes.

Final score - Musselburgh 10 : Knox Academy 15