There was a very strong wind on Saturday as the Blacks kicked off their latest RBS East League 1 game. At times it badly affected the standard of the game as both sides struggled to play any passing moves against the wind which howled its way directly across the pitch. In the early stages Lismore were the better team running through several phases of play and the Berwick tackling needed to be resolute in the face of several determined forward runs. Kicking in the wind was a lottery as evidenced by one clearance kick from Gareth Hill which was kicked from the stand side of the pitch and came very close to going out on the other side of the pitch! Berwick started to come into the game and Jack Webster nearly scored after a delicate chip down the line was just covered by the Lismore defence. Berwick managed to break the deadlock and it came from a textbook catch and drive from the Berwick pack. Stuart Cockburn caught the ball from a line out and then refocused the point of attack allowing the drive through the Lismore defence with Tony McDougal coming up with the score after being driven over by his fellow forwards. With the severe cross winds it was no surprise when Gareth Hill’s attempted kick went wide. The Berwick pressure continued with some clever grubber kicks gaining ground but it was the visitors who fought back to take the lead. The score was almost a carbon copy of the earlier Berwick score. A catch and drive following a Berwick infringement allowed Lismore to score but their conversion found its mark to give them a 5-7 lead after 25 minutes. Lismore extended this lead a few minutes later after some stupidity from Berwick lead to them being walked back another 10 yards for back chat after they had been penalised for offside. This extra 10 yards allowed Lismore to kick the penalty stretching the lead to 5-10. Winger Jamie Pick made a strong run as the Blacks attempted to wrestle the lead back but he was stopped on the 22 and the Blacks failed to capitalise on the fine run when a kick went straight out handing the initiative to the visitors. Lismore turned the screw by adding another penalty just before half time when the Blacks again strayed offside and referee Paul Lindsay blew soon thereafter with the score 5-13 to Lismore.
Berwick’s half time team talk from the coaching staff worked straight away when they mounted an attack. During the attack Lismore were caught napping when Alistair Grieve took a quick penalty to create the space which allowed him to barrel over under the posts. Hill added the conversion and Lismore’s hard won lead was immediately cut to a single point. Berwick looked to have taken the lead when Hill made a great break through the Lismore defence but he was hauled back as the referee had to sort out some fisticuffs between a couple of the forwards. Berwick continued to pressurise the Lismore line and eventually Hill slotted a penalty after Lismore came in from the wrong side to make the score 15-13. Instead of building on this Berwick continued to shoot themselves in the foot by giving away penalty after penalty for straying offside and the game was on a knife edge. The Blacks then created the best try of the game showing a real team spirit in the process. It originated 10 yards in their own half when Tony McDougal picked up after the Blacks had pinched the ball against the put in. McDougal’s break was well supported by Hill and Pick amongst others. The sweeping move ended with Aaron Hall popping up on Pick’s shoulder to take the ball on and using every inch of his height he managed to get the ball down over the line to cap an excellent team try. Hill put the icing on the cake by adding the extra points. The match continued apace and became heated with Berwick Coach Lawrence Patton being spoken to by referee Paul Lindsay for speaking out of turn. Berwick continued to keep the pressure on the visitors with some crunching tackles being put in with Hall in particular slamming one opponent back with relish. Berwick were still only a converted try ahead and Lismore still had plenty of fight left in them and it wasn’t until the final minute that Berwick got the final score. After a series of barn storming rucks Cockburn piled over to cap an excellent performance. Hill added the conversion and the final whistle blew to finish the game with Berwick winning 27-13.
In truth this was a pretty hard game to watch. The windy conditions didn’t help matters but both teams didn’t listen to the referee and as a result his whistle was in regular use. Berwick ended up worthy winners in the end as they were able to put together the more inventive passages of play but Lismore didn’t stretch them the way other teams have as they persisted with running straight at the Blacks defence. Berwick travel to play run away league leaders Preston Lodge this weekend and they will have to up their game if they are to win.
Berwick Team: R MacFarlane, J Webster, J Mechan, N Graham, J Pick, G Hill, J Patterson, D Eagleton, G Black, S Pringle, A Hall, S Cockburn, A Pearson, T McDougal, A Grieve. Replacements C Maguire, L Douglas, T McColl.