Dunbar U15's took to the road again for the fifth time in six league matches this time to Biggar. The green team suffered several call offs, Cameron McFaddyn, Josh Nicol, Struan Fenn and new player Jake Johnstone being amongst them. Biggar having only fourteen players requested two 30 minute halves rather than 3x20mins, with the third being a development period. Whilst this does not suit teams with numerous subs it was decided to give it a go. Kacper being loaned to the home team until replacements arrived. The home team kicked off with great ferocity and their big impressive centre burst through a hesitant visiting defence. It took a while for Dunbar to become accustomed to the soggy conditions, but they gradually asserted themselves with the back row of Jack Simmons, Finlay Darrah and Matty Pickles to the fore. Jack Armstrong left the field with a knock to the head. Jack Young’s (now back at scrum half) accurate chip behind the Biggar defence saw Darrah scoop the ball up to score. Young unluckily hit the post with the conversion. At this point Dunbar created many chances but these were wasted with handling errors due to the slippery ball and misdirected passes. Josh Stewart's try enabled Dunbar to take the lead, the home team answered back with a try of their own.
Half Time 10-10.
It was Dunbar now in the driving seat but they lost Tom Wight with a leg injury. Josh Stewart again stormed down the blindside to score behind the posts; Young increased the lead with the two points. The line out worked well under pressure as Biggar escaped punishment breaking through the line too early as our photo’s suggested. Dunbar’s pack started to gain control and the side pressed for victory but they found themselves penalised frequently and the momentum of the game turned back to Biggar as Dunbar’s discipline, composure and concentration evaporated in the mud. The home team now impressively wrestled back the initiative with two tries, one of which appeared to be a candidate for the video ref. Darrah then received a yellow card for deliberately playing the ball in an off side position. Dunbar galvanised themselves but conceded a try before the captain’s return. Dunbar was now in disarray mentally, alignment became disjointed and they conceded another try. The last play of the game summed up the day for Dunbar, they won their line out near their line but the knock back was gobbled up by Biggar who pounced on the loose ball to score.
Final score Biggar 35 Dunbar 17.
This was a good competitive even game where the result could have been different. Dunbar’s now frequent discipline problems snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Rugby is a game where interpretation by the ref has to be respected at all times wither we agree or not, if we don't, this is the result. In close games this can make the difference between winning and losing so we must put this right as a number of competitive games are coming up. It was good to have a hard game between two even sides.