Royal High Defence Too Tough A Nut To Crack

It was a very cold and dark Saturday morning as the lads gathered to travel to
Barnton against a good Royal High team. There were only just enough for a team
as a few late call offs pared the squad back to only 16 players.

Knox started really strongly though, benefitting from arriving a little earlier
and having a good warm up. Royal High were pinned into their own 22, but wave
after wave of Knox attacks were repelled by a well organised defence. Knox
forwards were dominating scrum and line out and eventually sneaked through a gap
in defence with a wee grubber kick that was collected by Green who popped to
Booth right on the line, but the ball was dropped and the chance was gone.

In a rare break, RH then cut through the Knox defence and just as it looked like
they were going to score, they knocked it on over the line. The cold hands were
obviously causing problems for both teams.

Knox kept the pressure up though and Dewar hit three strong tackles in a row to
put pressure on RH only for the ball to be knocked on again over the line.

It looked like a try was coming, but it was RH who pounced first. A quick tap
penalty in their won 22 was spread wide, but good tackles from Dewar and Wright
stopped that first break in its tracks. RH retained possession and spread the
ball wide to the other wing where they broke through for a try against the run
of play.

Half time Royal High 5 Knox Academy 0

Playing slightly into the wind in the second half, Knox knew they had to keep up
the pressure that they had held in the first half, but they lost a quick score
through weak tackling and RH got their tails up.

Their stand off was controlling the game well and shortly after kick off, he saw
a gap and chipped through for his winger to collect and dab down for another
score.

More gloom was to follow as Knox conceded a couple of silly penalties at a ruck
which gave good field position for RH to nip over for another easy score.

Knox's heads had gone down and after being the dominant team for so long, had
lost their way in a devastating 15 minute spell.

They gathered themselves together and focussed on putting in a strong finish.
They worked their way back up the park after a couple of RH penalties and once
again found themselves battering at the line and being stopped. A clever heavy
grubber kick got a bit of luck and bounced back off the posts for Cunningham,
but he was stopped on the line. Duke then picked up at a scrum but was driven
back and another chance was gone. Another pick up and drive from Thomson, but
the ball was stripped out of his hands over the line.

But Knox still held possession in RH 22 and finally they broke through. The ball
was spun out from the scrum and a cover switch play followed by good hands from
Wright, Cunningham and Jack released Dewar to dive over in the corner.

Full time: Royal High 24 Knox Academy 5

Royal High deserved their win, but it was a game that could have easily gone
Knox's way if they had taken their chances in the first half. Hopefully more of
the squad will be available to train and play next weekend in our last game
before the Christmas break.