Match reports from 10th October 2004

Confusion merged into amusement as the Tigers match against Portobello was abandoned at half time because the changing room lady had to go home. It provided an abrupt end to an otherwise fine days play all round.

The P7/6 side, excellently led from the front by captain  Iain Dawson, saw off the challenge of the home side Dalkeith, with two well  taken tries by Ben and Thomas.  New boys Sam, Andrew and  Ewan made positive contributions along with Donald and Stewart. Max, as  ever, worked tirelessly covering the whole pitch.  Any leaks in the defence were soon dealt with by the Skehel assassins as the opposition were scythed in their tracks by the dynamic duo, impressing the home supporters.

The second fixture of the day saw the big Portobello side start well. We were under pressure but our P6 players of Lewis, Callum & Murray along with the rest of the team held their own containing Portobello to 2 tries.  As the
first half came to a close we started to get a grip on the match.  Unfortunately, we did not get the opportunity to see the second half as it was stop now or go home in your boots.

Whilst there is work to be done to keep the ball in two hands and to lower the tackling, there are good signs that the teamwork is coming together.

The P5/4s were short of their full complement and  played mixed matches with Dalkeith players helping to make up the numbers.  Grant, Jordan, Liam, Euan and Steven plugged away. We are starting to see some good rugby from this team, but we need to increase our numbers!

The P3, 2 & 1s had a brilliant day. We mixed the players with our Dalkeith chums and had a great match with tries at both ends aided by some appropriately relaxed refereeing. Gregor was very competitive throughout. Samantha hunted for the ball and Nicholas showed a clean pair of heels at any opportunity. Alfie maintained the Skehel tradition with text book tackling.

Broughton held a strong Dalkeith team from the start by closing down and, in the main, tackling strongly. Encouraging signs of co-ordinated play and teamwork saw our players taking the ball forward and passing the ball out. Team Captain for the day, Ian Dawson, rallied his players and we were rewarded with 2 well worked tries from Ben & Thomas. Usual heroic tackling from the Jack & Harry even had the Dalkeith supporters clapping. On the downside we were repeatedly penalised for not having two hands on the ball and some high tackling.

v Portobello
Facing a big and well organised team put Broughton With signs the opposition tiring there was a feeling it would be a case of all to play for in the 2nd half. Unfortunately the game ended abruptly after the caretaker called time by announcing the changing rooms were going to be locked up! It was a case of what if!

Overall a fantastic performance with good handling and tackling the order of the day

[Richard Chalmers]