Milntown is normally one of the more picturesque grounds that the Northern 1st XV gets to visit during the regular season, positioned as it is beside a tributary of the River Esk, with their distinctive old wooden grand stand the defining man-made feature of the valley (unless you include the caravan park).

The stand however was not of much use on Saturday (except for playing host to the pre-match routines of Northerns resident nicotine addicts), as the horizontal rain that welcomed the visitors vacating their modest (but pleasant) transport had rendered the home teams 1st XV pitch unplayable and forced Northern to take on their hosts further away from the clubhouse on the 2nd XV pitch, with the a thick mist obscuring any traces of the picturesque in this little corner of nearly-England.

It was in these conditions that Northern opened proceedings, a skittery kick-off from Colin Bryans putting Langholm under pressure from the offset. The error count, spoken about in detail during during the warm-up by Northern would prove to be essential over the next eighty minutes, and from one the next resulting phases, Langholm knocked on. Northerns scrum, which has been such a stalwart of their season thus far, took on the marginally bigger Langholm pack and put them immediately under pressure on the soft turf, though they managed to get the ball clear.

In the opening ten minutes or so, play took on a very repetitive pattern. Northern would attack, with good carries from Paul Holland, Rory Pounds and Tim Williamson making ground from the base of the ruck, before the ball would be lost at some stage. Langholm, taking advantage of the weather, would then kick clear to one of Sacha Ponniah, Liam Barry or Luke Worthington (whose adamant refusal to return the ball with the boot was praise worthy) who would run straight back at them, starting the process all over again.
One such kick did run Northern into trouble, with a forward pass handing Langholm a scrum deep in the Northern 22.

Attacking from the base, Langholm racked up six or seven phases, before a turn over, which allowed Northern to exit well from the boot of Michael Mawdsley. At the subsequent line-out, Northern stole possession, with Wilson Craig dispatching a 60 m clearance box kick, giving Northern a strong field position.

From the subsequent line-out drive, which trundled 10 or so metres before being hauled down; Colin Bryans broke right, with the timing of both centres run creating the space for the Northern Irish man to crash through to score almost under the posts. In difficult conditions, he just missed the subsequent conversion. 0-5.

With the play mostly being dictated by Northern, the otherwise uneventful first-half carried on, with the deteriorating conditions preventing either side from playing particularly expansive or attractive rugby. Good carries by Michael Mawdsley and Aaron Wilcocks in the centres, plus Wilson Craig marshalling the forwards pack on saw Northern continue to pressurise Langholm’s defence.

What can also be praised in the closing twenty minutes of the first half was Northerns fervent defensive efforts when they were dispossessed, with Langholm changing their centre combination three times to try and make a dent in the face of Northerns press, to no avail. HT 0-5.

A narrow half-time lead is something Northern are familiar with, and unfortunately they didn’t kick on in the opening exchanges of the first half, which alongside a break in the weather turned the second-half into a far most exciting contest. A change at half-back for Langholm saw them differentiate their style of play, opting to actually run the ball at Northern which made saw them begin to make substantial yards. A decent break by their inside centre made 10 or so metres, good work saw them quickly whip the ball blind, before playing the ball back through the hands to expose Northerns lack of defensive numbers, forcing the overlap and the subsequent try in the corner. 7-5.

Northern began to toil, as the box-kicking strategy and one-out rugby from the first half failed to have the same physcological effect from the first half. A long open kick gave Langholm a penalty as Liam Barry refused to retreat and Langholm took 60 meters off a rare Northern attack. The subsequent drive made decent yardage, before the hosts rattled through phases, and despite a solid showing in defence, they broke through at the side of a ruck to score almost directly under the posts. 14-5.

It’s a compliment to Northern this season that when they do go points down, it’s normally always within a score, and there is a self-belief that has come to the fore on more than one occasion this season to snatch victory from the clutches of defeat.

Northern took the initiative and a good break by Michael Mawdsley, Max Hoani and Luke Worthington saw Northern make good yardage into the Langholm 22. Although turned over, straight from the resulting line-out Northern caught and drove, before being reward a penalty for an infringement on Colin Bryans as he carried bravely into contact once more. The subsequent line-out was hauled down once more, and Bob MacKintosh was unlucky not to make it to the line off second phase ball, but did see another penalty rewarded to Northern. Again, a good line-out jump at the front by Jason Thompson was hauled down and this time the referee reacted by rightly binning the Langholm number 4.

Northern took the scrum and with the try-line beckoning, big carries from unnamed forwards (they were all really muddy and I’ve forgotten who was there) smashed against the Langholm defence, creeping round the corner towards the posts. Suddenly, the play was reversed to substitute Kristian Anderson, who spotted the space on the blind, moved round and with 10 metres out could have rightly gone for the line. Instead, showing fabulous composure for such a young man/forward, he delivered a fabulously weighted pass for winger Liam Barry to touch down right in the corner. Colin Bryans unfortunately just missed the kick. 14-10.

Northern gathered the restart well, and once again made yards into the Langholm half, Lewis Girvan off the bench carrying well. Knowing the points difference, and with momentum swinging in their favour, the next 5-10 minutes were spent with Northern trying to break through Langholm’s defensive line, but the error count began to rise and they weren’t able to capitalise on this man advantage.
With ten minutes left on the clock, Northern once again made a break, this time through Kristian Anderson and with the numbers stacking up wide, Colin Bryans held onto the ball beautiful before releasing Aaron Wilcocks, who bounced one defender, stepped another and then broke for the line, going over from 35 metres out. Colin Bryans dispatched the kick. 14-17.

In the closing minutes, Langholm attacked, and look for a moment like they might score in the centre of the pitch, but a fabulous tackle saw their inside centre spill the ball. The subsequent scrum held firm, a one-out ball to the Northern 12 saw good field position in the centre of the 22 and Colin Bryans sent the ball arching off the field and the spoils handed to the pride of Inverleith Park.

ENRFC 1st XV: Ponniah, Barry, Wilcocks, Mawdsley, Worthington, Bryans, Craig; Leatham, Hogan, Williamson, Harper, Holland, Pounds, Thompson, MacKintosh. Subs: Girvan, McConnell, Hoani, Burns, Anderson.