Moray House

Rugby Football Club

Ground: Jack Kane Centre, 208 Niddrie Mains Road, Edinburgh.

Match Reports:

Broughton 1st VX v Moray House - 7th October 2006

This game was arranged as both teams had a bye in the cup. Broughton are riding high in the league above so this was always going to be a stern test especially considering there were a number of players unavailable.

Moray House started off going down the slope putting together some good phases of play and some tight driving by the forwards. Rusty at scrum-half looking very sharp along with the centre partnership of Lewis and Wood.

Broughton were limited to very few attacks and it was with the run of play that McCallister scored a fine charged down try in the bottom right corner. Calvert didn't convert. A second try came fairly soon after a penalty for house for an infringement on the deck grazed the post and rebounded into open play. Scorer this time was Rusty. This was to prove to be almost the last involvement of skipper Rusty as he received a knee in the back when tackled in midfield and had to retire injured (this transpired to be a broken rib near the spine as diagnosed by ERI).

Lewis came into scrum-half with Ali Whittaker going to centre and replacement Colin came onto the wing. A minute or so before half-time Broughton managed to charge down a clearing kick from Calvert which flattered the scoreline.

Debutant Chris Brett and Mike Acorn were showing up very well in the loose with Mike stealing ball at will on Broughton throw-ins. An injury to Whittaker (his huge nose took a beating) meant further re-jigging of the back line. This, coupled to the psychological problem of playing uphill and some aimless kicking allowed Broughton back into the match, their no. 8 and blind-side being prominent in most of their attacks.

Some poor tackling along with some players playing together for the first time let Broughton score 6 tries in a second half that wasn't as one-sided as the score line would ultimately suggest.

Mike Alcorn was given man-of-the-match for his display which saw Moray House, especially the over-40s, acquit themselves very well. One thing is for certain had the squad been at full strength the score line would have been very different. This also goes to show that there's very little between the teams in the two East Regional Leagues.

Lessons to be learnt? More confidence, player for player we were just as good as the opposition. Tighten the play up and don't kick away possession especially when playing up the slope. Training!

Result 42-12.