Haddington 1st XV kicked off 2023 with an away trip to Duns RFC. Although this was the first game since the 3rd of December, the boys had trained well over the festive period and were eager to get back to league action.

With Captain Connor Munro away in Australia, Andy Durkin stepped up to Captain the side for their away trip to the Borders. Hugo Elder shifted from the second-row, into Number 8 for his first start in the back-row position. Rob Mcluckie was promoted from the bench to start on the blind-side flank in place of the injured Jonny Riddell.

In the backs, James Dewar returned from a hamstring injury to replace Freddie Cunningham on the wing and Nick Bell made his return to the 1st XV squad after a broken wrist sustained in the East Lothian Cup back in August.

Playing into the wind in the first half, Haddington had to work hard defensively in the first quarter of the game as Duns were eager to get their first win of the season. Credit to Haddington however, as their defence remained strong denying Duns any points.

With the Haddington forwards providing a solid platform at the scrum, this allowed Donald Bathgate to feed his backline and James Dewar managed to get on the end of a pass from Kyle Hamilton, to go over the try line. 0-5.

After a period of sustained pressure from the Reds, the forwards again provided a lot of go forward momentum with Dillon Ball providing a lovely tip on pass to Hugo Elder to burst up the middle. Play was then taken back out wide to winger Ben Moffat, who cut back inside and offload to Kyle Munro, who managed to beat the Duns scrambling defence and go over in the corner. 0-10 to Haddington.

Duns were able to get onto the scoreboard after a poor decision from Haddington led to a penalty. The Duns flyhalf slotted the penalty to take the scores to 3-10 to Haddington.

With the wind at their backs in the second half, Haddington were awarded a scrum. With the scrum won, Hugo Elder picked from the base and crashed his way over the try line. Donald Bathgate was able to add the extras to take the scores to 3-17.

With less than ten minutes of the game left, Haddington had a bonus try firmly on their minds and threw everything at Duns. However it took until the final play of the game for the Reds to finally be able to break the Duns defence. After being awarded a penalty, Haddington opted to kick to the corner and won the lineout. With a peel off the back, the Reds pack carried the ball up field and a quick ruck allowed Nick Bell to spin the ball out to Freddie Cunningham. Captain Andy Durkin was then able to pick a gap in the Duns defence and sprinted over the try line from the opponents 22 meter line. Unfortunately, Nick Bell was unable to add the extra two points and the game finished 3-22 to Haddington.

Rob Mcluckie (sponsored by Lord of The Trees) was awarded the Man of the Match for his outstanding performance in attack and at the breakdown.

Next up, Haddington face Forrester RFC at home with a 2pm kick off on Saturday 14th of January. The bar will be open from 1pm, so please come down and support the boys!