Scarlets End Season On A High

It was the boys last game of the season against Consett, a touring team from near Newcastle. The tourists turned up a little late and one of them even turned up in a nice summer floral dress, hopefully a forfeit from the previous day on tour.

It was drizzling at kick off which made handling tricky, but Haddington came out of the blocks faster. They maintained pressure in the Consett 22 for the opening period, with good tactical kicking by Cunningham keeping the visitors pinned back.

After 15 minutes of pressure, Duke picked up from a scrum and sucked in the defensive back line. Eadie was quick in support to secure the ball which was whipped out by Wright to the backs who handled slickly to Dewar who scampered over for the game's first try.

Haddington were quickly back up the pitch after a good take at the kick off and then another nice kick towards touch deep in the Consett 22. Haddington won the lineout and drove hard at the line, then passed it out with a huge overlap only to drop the ball just short of the line under no real pressure.

Consett were creaking and shortly after Haddington broke through with a good chip through from Cunningham which Dewar managed to collect and dive over for his second try of the day.

At this point it looked like Haddington were going to pull away as straight from the kick off, Middlemiss caught the ball and took off with more pace than anyone has seen from him all season at training. Must have been the haircut. Good yards made, but the ball was lost as Consett stole the ball again at the ruck. The visitors then started to pick and drive and made short yards time and again despite some resolute defence from Haddington. Without the ball, Haddington were unable to add any more points before half time.

Half Time: Haddington Rugby 10 Consett 0

After the break, Consett started strongly and were again causing problems at rucks as Haddington got a little loose in the forwards. However, Haddington's backs looked much stronger with Jack making big yards on several occasions only for the ball to be lost at the breakdown.

Another neat move in the Haddington backs saw the space open up for Dewar to get his hat trick, but he knocked on and the chance was gone.

Learmonth then made some good yards, handing off two players and bouncing off two more before being stopped. But Haddington once again couldn't retain possession as a lot of good breaks were coming to nothing.

However, Macfarlane was keen to get involved and was next to break through only to be stopped by a high tackle just short of the line. A quick tap by Wright and pop to Thomson who drove over the line, but couldn't ground the ball. Another chance gone for Haddington.

This seemed to spur Consett on to greater effort and they worked their way up the pitch and camped in Haddington's 22. Wave after wave of attacks were stopped until a penalty was given, a quick tap taken, one tackle was missed and Consett scored in the corner much to the delight of their travelling supporters.

Haddington were determined not to let this game slip though and quickly got back up the pitch after the kick off and held the ball for the next 5 minutes until the final whistle.

Final Score: Haddington Rugby 10 Consett RFC 5

A well fought game played in a great spirit in front of a big crowd who stayed on for some food and a few laughs and songs in the clubhouse. Although most of our lads couldn't understand a word their Geordie guests were saying, they all seemed to have a great time.

A long season has come to an end and whilst a few players have taken a break from rugby, those that have stayed have improved dramatically over the course of a season where the team have finished with eleven wins and only eight defeats. If we can get a few more players back next season then hopefully the team's progression can continue.