Dunbar welcomed our county rivals Haddington to Hallhill, for our first group match in the top 6. We had met earlier in the season with Dunbar being victorious 28-7. Haddington had progressed from that early setback, and had become a solid attacking outfit with a strong pack. The Dunbar coaches knew this would be a much closer affair. Dunbar had also cancelled both training sessions in the week, prior to the game, due to poor numbers. The home side were also missing 5 of their most valuable players Dom Mayo, Robbie Cockburn and Denham Blair were all injured, while Jamie Crichton and Andrew Lang were unavailable. They did however welcome back Hamish Darrah from injury and both Matt McPhillips and skipper Anton Penrose from holiday.
Both teams seemed equally matched and were looking for an early victory to set them up for the rest of the campaign. As Dunbar and Haddington looked for an opening, the game descended into a kicking contest, not normally the home teams style, however Matt McPhillips precise kicks, did relieve the pressure and gained them valuable territory. The visitors had Dunbar on the rack, but sloppy passing and great defensive work kept them at bay. Anton Penrose takes a kick to the back of the head, but recovers and bravely carries on. The home scrum is under increasing pressure by the much larger Haddington pack. Ewan Patrizio manages to make a break and gains valuable yards, dylan moffat makes a great tackle and turn over ball, doing what he does best, not one for the limelight, but the hardest worker in the team. With possession swinging back and forth Haddington make a quick break on the outside, but again great tackling, winning the ball back and then running it from defence clears the danger. Ryan Silver makes a break but is halted. The finishing passes from the home side were not meeting their targets, and there were too many dropped balls to keep any continuity flowing. It takes a trademark run from Ewan Patrizio the number 8 to break the deadlock. Matt McPhillips converts the kick to open up a 7-0 lead.
Haddington steal Dunbar line out ball which had been good for most of the game, and their forwards build momentum by doing a lot of dog balls, drawing in the home defence. Dunbar then came close on a few occasions getting the ball out to the wings where both Fraser Henderson and Kyle Laing tried to exploit the little space they had.
The first half ends with both teams trying to play attacking rugby, it was a surprise to the big crowd there were no more scoring in that half.
Dunbar started the second half brightly and immediately went on the offensive. Matt McPhillips who had played superbly, caught a Haddington kick and returns it with interest by breaking through their defence and diving over in the corner. A brilliant individual try by any standards. Matt missed the kick unfortunately but had extended the Dunbar lead to 12-0.
With tempers raised, due the tightness of the game several bad tempered situations arose. In separate incidents, Chris Baikie gets a yellow card for a professional foul, and the Haddington hooker throws a punch at Matt McPhillips, which referee Lawrence Tierney had his back to. This could have led to a free for all, but the home team kept their discipline, however being down to fourteen men proves difficult, as they fail to halt the Haddington onslaught and they score 2 quick tries. The first a well worked move out to the winger. Their back play had looked good for much of the game, and the second a break right through the middle of the Dunbar defence, who were totally exposed. However the second kick was missed, this meant the scores were tied. The game was on a knife edge and the crowd could sense it, as they got more vocal.
However to the credit of the home side, where as other teams might have buckled under, they kept going even though they were a man down. Skipper Anton Penrose finished a well worked move and Matt McPhillips converts the kick to put Dunbar back in the lead again as they come back from the dead.
There was to be no more scoring and the home side were victorious. A hard won victory against a very good Haddington side who had put on a great display for their supporters and coach John Stewart. It was a very entertaining spectacle. Dunbar wished Haddington well in the rest of their matches.
From a Dunbar coaches perspective we were pleased how the players stuck in and never gave up. However we hope they realise they can't go into games without training at least twice a week. There is so much to improve on especially rucking, clearing over the ball, passing, putting the ball in front of the player. Biggar away next Saturday will be very tough encounter and we need to be far better prepared for that one.