Reds start Arnold Clark National League Division 4 campaign with hard fought win at Hamilton Bulls
Hamilton 26 – 35 Linlithgow
Saturday 7th September 2024
Report by David Mitchell
Saturday saw the Reds travel to the Laigh Bent ground in Hamilton to face opposition that played in National League 3 in season 2023-24. This was a tough assignment for their first National League game in several years, but they triumphed after a gutsy display outscoring their hosts by 5 tries to 4.
Despite the weather in Linlithgow being a bit overcast, Hamilton was bathed in sunshine on a warm afternoon and playing conditions were excellent. A decent sized crowd was in attendance, including many supporters of the visiting team, and the Reds had a strong line up showing only 1 change from their recent victory over Stewarts Melville with Jamie Tulloch lining up in his usual spot at number 7.
Conor Findlay started the action from the kick off and the Reds were soon in front. After some fine forward driving play, the ball was moved wide right by Archie Rusack who fed Conor Findlay and he fired a long pass to Ruaridh Stewart and his outside drifting run created the space to send full back Ross Tulloch over in the corner to claim the honour of the team’s 1st National League try of the season.
As expected, the home side responded robustly with some direct running and good ball carrying, but the Reds’ defence held firm. The visitors then moved downfield and won a penalty in front of the posts and Conor Findlay stroked the ball between the sticks to make the score 0-8 after 15 minutes. At this stage neither side was dominant, and the line-outs were fairly even with Linlithgow just about shading the scrums.
Hamilton did exert some significant pressure for a period and were eventually rewarded with a try under the posts and the full back added the conversion to make it 7-8. All credit to the Reds for taking the attack to the home side with some powerful driving play and creative back play led by Conor Findlay with several darting runs creating space for his outside backs. The next score was a perfect example with Conor side stepping his opposite number before flipping a pass to Ruaridh Stewart who cruised in for a fine try.
The referee had already warned both teams about the number of penalties being conceded and he started to issue yellow cards to both teams on a frequent basis, sometimes as a mystery to the crowd, but many were for high tackles. The Reds finished off a great 1st half from a scrum to the left of the home posts when Ross Martin spotted a gap as the home scrum disintegrated and he dotted the ball down for a try that was converted by Conor Findlay to make the half time score 7-20.
The expected backlash came early in the 2nd half with the Bulls running hard and straight at the Reds and showing that NL4 rugby is a step up in physicality, but the visitors handled most situations well. The game did get a bit disjointed owing to the number of yellow cards and substitutions made throughout the half and a revolving door might well have been deployed to cope with the frequent changes. All 4 replacements were introduced during the half with Calum McKeown and Kieran Cochrane bolstering the forward pack and the very experienced David Goudie introduced at centre and finally club captain Jack Frame also made a welcome return from injury.
Somewhat against the run of play the Reds extended their lead with a try made possible by the vision of Conor Findlay. He spotted space behind the Bulls defence and he executed a perfectly weighted kick that was collected by Luke O’Hara and although held by the full back, he managed to offload the ball to the ever present support runner that is Jamie Tulloch and he broke free of the final tackler to score a great try. Jack Frame added the extra points to make the score 7-27.
As expected, this stung the home side into ever more feverish attacks and it was no real surprise that they added 2 tries and a conversion as they fought their way back to an 8 point deficit at 19-27. At this stage the result was in the balance with the home team being encouraged by their scores and a vociferous support. However, this Reds team seems to find a way to score tries in adversity and such was the case when serial try scorer Luke O’Hara went from try maker to try scorer with a trademark finish in the corner. After a sweeping move left, the ball was switched back towards the right wing and Conor Findlay, Jack Frame, Ruaridh Stewart, Jamie Tulloch and Ross Plenderleith combined to send Luke over for a well-earned try.
This gave the visitors a 13 point lead which meant that 2 converted tries by Hamilton could still snatch victory. Fortunately, the Reds were awarded a penalty about 40 metres out and Jack Frame decided to attempt the long kick at goal that would make it a 3 score game. He thumped the ball between the posts to the delight of his team and supporters and the game was effectively won. Hamilton did keep pushing for a 4th try and they got it in the last move of the game and with it a try bonus point.
Final score – Hamilton Bulls 26-35 Linlithgow Reds
Overall, a great start to the league campaign with an ‘on the road’ win and 5 league points and 5 separate try scorers. This was a fine team effort with the forward pack performing very solidly. Adam Buckley, Kyle Ormond and Andrew Graham were effective in the set pieces but also contributed well to open play with Adam’s tackling a feature of his game. Fraser Mochrie and Oscar Davies put in a power of work in the 2nd row with Fraser contributing his usual selfless shift. Oscar played his part in the boiler room despite it not being his regular position and his aggressive driving play gained yards for his team. The back row worked well as a unit but the individuals were all outstanding as well. Euan Mochrie, his usual belligerent self, regularly disrupted the opposition, but he also made some great surging drives. Jamie Tulloch’s contribution grows week on week and he is fast becoming a key player in the team with his tackling, boundless energy, physical impact and support running. Ross Martin has had a flying start to his season with superb contributions in try scoring, line-out play, aggressive driving play and excellent tackling. On top of this, our bench is strong with Calum McKeown and Kieran Cochrane performing well when they are introduced to the game.
The backs are equally praiseworthy. The hinge formed by Archie Rusack and Conor Findlay is a pleasure to watch and these young men will only get better as they cement their starting positions in the team. The midfield pairing of Ewan Curran and Ruaridh Stewart are blending well with Ewan’s solid defence and good handling being complemented by Ruaridh’s similarly excellent tackling and his beautiful gliding running. The back 3 of Ross Plenderleith, Luke O’Hara and Ross Tulloch all contributed well with powerful runs by them all and solid defence when under pressure including being very secure under the high ball. The back replacements, David Goudie and Jack Frame brought experience and control and seamlessly integrated into the back division.
Real competition for places is always a healthy sign for a club and we have many contenders trying to get into the match day squad and long may this continue. What was clear is that there is a step up in physicality in the National League and we need to maintain, if not improve, our defensive capabilities. We also need to maintain our discipline as we came under real pressure when suffering the yellow cards, so players need to take responsibility for their own behaviour to ensure that we try to keep 15 players on the field at all times.
Next week Ardrossan Academicals are the visitors to Mains Park for the 1st home league fixture. They are expected to be a strong outfit based on their 59-12 defeat of Stewartry last Saturday so let’s get a big home crowd in attendance to support the team.