Cartha Hold On Despite PL Comeback

A slow start cost Preston Lodge dear as they left it far too late before raising their game against Cartha Queens Park at The Pennypit on Saturday.

PL had the first chance to get points on the board after only two minutes but stand off Thomas McMann's kick from 22 metres drifted just wide of the posts and this would prove to be one of the few chances that they would have to score during the entire first half.
Cartha looked useful going forward with the ball and most of the play in the early stages was taking place in or near the home 22 but PL's midfield defence of Greg Walker and Alan Whittingham were alert to the danger and few scoring chances appeared. However, in the 16th minute a good interchange of passes by the Cartha pack proved to be too good and a gap opened up allowing 2nd row Ross Gillies the chance to seize the opportunity to dive through and score. Wayne Burrows missed the conversion but the centre slotted a penalty on the half hour mark to extend the lead to 0-8.
PL saved their best passage of play for the final 10 minutes of the half which was sparked by a good run down the left by Blair Robertson before he was brought down just short of the line. The referee gave a penalty against Cartha at the ruck and Dale Gordon kept up the pressure by taking a quick tap which kept up the momentum but despite some good phases of play, they couldn't find a way to get over the line. The play continued well inside the 22 though and a McMann kick forced the visitors to carry over giving PL a scrum five but the next charge towards the line was halted when winger Alec Costin was bundled into touch in the corner.
There would be no further scoring in the half as Cartha deservedly held their 0-8 lead but at least PL had shown that they were capable of playing some good rugby.

Jonthan Brash and Paul Glynn had shown some good touches in defence during the first half and the entire back division looked to be growing in confidence during the first few minutes of the second. A good pass from Alan Whittingham set Finlay Hughes off on a run up the right wing from their own 22 but the Cartha cover tackles brought the promising move to an end on half way. Burrows nearly extended his side's lead again in the 52nd minute but his kick at goal missed despite initially being signalled good.
As the game moved into the final quarter, it was time for PL to cut out the errors and get themselves back on track. Dale Gordon and Chris Dixon did well when linking together although the referee wasn't so keen and penalised them but then Walker had a good break that was too good for the first line of defence and set up good field position once more.
Cammy Simpson came on at scrum half and immediately made a good impression but putting his opposite number under pressure and then Gordon, who had moved out to centre and Hughes, looked to have created an opening but the scrambled defence just managed to get back. Gordon was relishing his new role and set up a good move with Chris Dixon but it wasn't until the 79th minute before the try would come. Once again, captain Chris Dixon was to the fore as he broke clear with the ball and a neat pass to Jason Riley was perfectly timed to allow the No.8 plenty of space to crash over and score near the posts. Jonathan Brash added the conversion which meant that the final score was a disappointing 7-8.

Cartha were deserved winners on the day but PL did more than enough towards the end to justify their losing bonus point. A much improved performance will definitely be needed at Kirkcaldy next week though as points are vital to get them back into the top half of the table.
Please note that kick off times now move to 2pm.

Preston Lodge Team:
J Brash, P Glynn, G Walker, A Whittingham, A Costin, T McMann, D Gordon
N Hart, M Stewart, C Dickson, M Sanderson, N Whittingham, B Robertson, C Dixon, J Riley
Replacements:
S McLEan, F Hughes, C Simpson, J Burns