The Colts continued their bright start to the new season in the Scottish Borders league with a good solid victory away at league newbies Musselburgh.
After an early start from Carlisle we were soon at Musselburgh, where we were given a very warm welcome following our nearly 3 hour journey. The bus was full and the confidence seemed high and following a relaxing walk around the ground the boys were soon ready for the challenge that lay ahead! Despite it being early October the pitch and conditions were near perfect apart from gusty left to right wind.
We started with the wind at our backs and after absorbing some early pressure from the home team we slowly left the bus trip behind and the boys were in control of the game. Some good attacking rugby by the forwards allowed the backs to have a good amount of decent ball to try their moves and it wasn’t long before Rory Irving (Captain) powered over for the first try which Matty Smith converted well from the tee.
As the game continued and Musselburgh applied the pressure the Carlisle defence wasn’t for being breached and some good tackling and team defence meant the score stayed in our favour. And it was following some good defence that we turned defence in to attack with Matty launching a great 50-22 kick deep into the Musselburgh half that enabled Matty Smith to cross the line for our second try which he successfully converted. Carlisle were starting to dominate and didn’t give Musselburgh anything and the pressure paid off towards the end of the first half when the backs linked up nicely to allow Freddy Kagoro to dance across the line for our third try of the day.
As half time approached we were reduced to 14 as Deniz Colak was harshly given a yellow card for a high tackle! The half finished 19-0 and we knew the second half would be tough playing into the wind!
With us being down a man for another 8 minutes the next score was always going to be vital in such a close game, and to their credit Musselburgh made the numerically advantage pay off scoring the next try! This meant a period of heavy pressure from Musselburgh but as the game continued and we returned to a full 15 it was Carlisle who scored the next try with Nye Lavery darting over the line for a typical scrum halves try which was converted by Matty Smith.
As the game continued we had a a couple of good opportunities to make the score more favourable but last ditch knock ons or miss placed pass we couldn’t add to our score! As the game came closer to an end we weathered a late rally from Musselburgh but we held out for our second successive bonus point win.
A special mention goes to the whole squad not just the team on the day as some lads travelled who weren’t selected and this just shows the commitment and sense of team that is growing within the Colts.
Man of Match was Alfie Armstrong for some great all round play but in particular his ability to pick up on the loose ball and make hard yards gave us a great platform going forward.
Idiot of Day: Coach Mike Rawling for nearly taking a lady out with a kick before the game even started…
Thanks to those parents who come to support us on the day and the kind words of those who were able to watch our live stream too, thank you Juan for that too.
We’re at home this Saturday against North Berwick Colts with 2pm kickoff and it would be amazing to continue our strong start to the season.