North Berwick sees determined performance from Langholm

Rugby

Langholm RFC 13
North Berwick 7

LANGHOLM RFC showed real
determination when they entertained top of the table North Berwick at Milntown on Saturday.
North Berwick, who heavily
defeated Langholm in the first game of the season, had only been beaten once in the league.
The home side however were keen not only to show that the size of the previous defeat was a fluke but also to prove that at home Langholm are a very difficult team to beat.
With a few regulars still out with
injury, the home squad which took to the field on Saturday showed a real
determination in the way they played and their attack and defence were both very good on the day.
Langholm opened the first half with some good attacking play and took the match to North Berwick from the outset.
The first 20 minutes was all Langholm and they put together some good moves using both the forwards and the backs in attack.
The forwards were securing good ball and then moving it out to the backs who looked dangerous in attack.
With 23 minutes played, the ball was moved to centre Joe Kirkup who barged through the tackle and passed to Jamie Gormley on the wing who dived in to score the first try. The
difficult conversion was missed.
North Berwick tried hard to get into Langholm territory but their attempts were made difficult by the secure home defence.
The visitors managed to get within five metres of the Langholm team,
before losing the ball in the ruck, but the clearance kick from Smith was unfortunately charged down by the North Berwick No 10 who chased the loose ball and scored between the posts. The conversion was successful.
With the visitors now 5-7 in lead completely against the run of play, they started to put together some good moves of their own and it was only the home side’s excellent defence which prevented the visitors from scoring
before half time
The second half started with Langholm again on the attack and they forced play well into the visitors’ half. Their pressure on the North Berwick line was relentless and only a couple of frustrating knock-ons prevented
further tries being scored.
With 60 minutes of the match played, the forwards were parked on the visitors’ line and only good defence
prevented a score.
Langholm pressure resulted in a penalty which was kicked by Smith. From one of these attacks, the ball was released to the backs and full back Lewis Miller came into the line to score a good try and take the score to13-7.
Despite considerable pressure from North Berwick in the last quarter, the Langholm defence held up and with over 80 minutes played, scrum half Andy Allison kicked the ball into touch and the ref blew for full time.
This was a good all-round performance by Langholm and coach Craig Hislop would have been pleased by not only some fine individual performances but also by the way the team worked together to beat the top of the league team and get revenge for the defeat earlier in the season.
This win takes Langholm on to 20 points and 6th place in the league with four wins and four losses.
This Saturday, Langholm travel to Edinburgh to take on Corstorphine RFC who have also won four matches and are on 22 points.
Squad: T Hope, C W Tait, A Scott, F Mitchell, E Turner, C Henderson, E Patterson, A Allison, A Rowe, N Smith. J Kirkup, C Helling, J Gormley, J Pool, L Miller, B Donaldson, S Jardine, A Cavers, W Gray.