FirstXV (15) - Whitecraigs (0)

Match Report

On an overcast but dry day at the Inch, the depth of the Lismore squad was reflected in a solid victory against a young and enthusiastic Whitecraigs side. Lismore missing a few of the regular first fifteen players (who, I ask you, gets married during the season? -ed.), put up a solid defensive performance to keep a clean sheet, whilst attacking at times with some exciting breaks in the backs, culminating in a two try to zero count in their favour.

Lismore where quick to get points on the score board from the kick off. A clean catch by lock Pete Phelan and steady platform from the forwards, saw Alan Duncan place the ball into the Whitecraigs twenty-two, forcing the opposition to clear to touch. From the lineout, plucked from the sky by James Blake, the ball was spread wide in a well executed miss one move, with outside centre Danny Howitz breaking a tackle in the centre of the park and feeding to the fullback Gary Tullis coming into the line at pace to score, diving over the line close to the corner flag. The extra two points were duly taken by Alan Duncan taking Lismore into the lead 7-0.

From the initial shock Whitecraigs responded strongly and camped for most of the first half at the Lismore end, their fly-half kicking well from hand to gain territory. However, the strength of the Lismore defence and a number of unforced errors by the Whitecraigs centres meant that pressure wasn’t converted into points. Around the half-hour mark, one such spill and a hack through by Alan Doak lead to Whitecraigs giving away a penalty between the ten-metre line and twenty-two. Lismore opted to take the points with Alan Duncan sending the ball through the posts to bring the score to 10-0.

The remainder of the first half saw Lismore giving away a number of penalties in their own half with careless errors such as going over the top, failing to get behind the back foot and handling the ball in the rucks. Whitecraigs were keen to score tries, bravely opting to take attacking lineouts close to the Lismore line instead of the easier kick at goal, a strategy which failed to provide any points for them at half-time.

Act two saw the aerial ping-pong continue with neither side really dominating possession or territory. Whitecraigs came close to scoring, taking a quick penalty on the Lismore twenty–two; however the prop forward theatrically dressed in pink boots even David Beckham would have cringed at, decided to perform a chip and chase instead of keeping the ball in hand, which was touched down by Lismore for a twenty-two drop out. The pressure on Lismore continued with Whitecraigs missing an achievable penalty kick just to the side of the posts. Highlights for Lismore included some strong return running from right winger Alan Smith, intelligent pickups from number eight Euan Murray and some fast delivery from set pieces by scrum-half Fluffer Louden.

In the last quarter following some power substitutions from coach Mr Moore, the stalemate was broken when a frustrated Whitecraigs side went down to fourteen men, allowing the Lismore forwards to dominate the rucks and mauls. From a lineout within sight of the Whitecraigs line, inside centre Alan Doak took a crash ball drawing in the Whitecraigs defence, presenting possession to the Lismore forwards. The ensuing rolling maul was expertly controlled by Chris Gilmore and Graeme Pardoe, putting the techniques learnt on the training ground into practice, allowing an overlap on the short side to be exploited by outside centre Danny Howitz who crashed over the line to bring take the score to 15-0. The conversion was missed but by this point there was little chance of a come back from Whitecraigs. The final whistle signalled a sound victory to Lismore against a persistent and competent Whitecraigs side in a good-spirited match.

Other Comments

Lismore start with solid scrums

Competition in the lineouts throughout

Pinks boots. SF-C, please take note :-))

Team

Man of the Match

Danny Howitz