Match Preview

Edinburgh Northern welcome Lismore RFC to the Bunker this Saturday in a potential title decider, with the final home league fixture of the 2016/2017 season offering them the possibility of bringing some silverware to the club for the first time in 5 years.

Northern currently sit 15 points clear at the top of East 2(B), with their three victories since the league split, all in difficult conditions, over Langholm, Liberton and the Edinburgh University Medics adding to the total that was carried over from the autumn. The visitors for the day, Lismore, are their nearest challengers, currently on 34 points, and anything less than a bonus point victory for the away side (denying Northern a losing bonus point) will see Northern crowned champions.

The last encounter between these two sides took place in October, as Northern travelled to the Inch on the back of 5 straight wins. For the opening 60 minutes, Northern dominated their opponents up front, but lack a clinical touch in the backline to put the game to bed. Having defended admirably and kicked brilliantly, at 11-0 down, Lismore burst back to life and scored 3 unanswered tries in the closing 15 minutes, a result that would eventually contribute to Northerns failure to make it into the top six for two years in a row.

Northern are at almost full-strength this week, due to several players returning from injury and it is a dynamic, aggressive 19 that will take to the field at 2.00 P.M on Saturday.

The front-row remains unchanged, with resident Yorkshireman John Leatham at loose-head, the excellent Dean Hogan at hooker and last week's man of the match Dougie Candlish at tight-head, with the latter relishing the prospect of taking on another behemoth at scrum time.

In the second-row, Lewis Girvan comes in for absent captain Calum Harper, having made his first start in the reverse fixture in the autumn. Partnering him is Brighton's very own Paul Holland, who bring his usual exuberance and enthusiasm to the field.

The back-row also remains unchanged, with Max Hoani and Dominic Harrison starting at six and seven respectively, whilst top try scorer Bob MacKintosh is retained at 8 following a dominant carrying display last weekend.

In the backs, Andrew Spiller moves from fly-half to scrum-half, where he can pack all of his ten year experience to a jersey he knows very well. Returning to the side is fly-half Doug Wilman, for whom Saturday will be his last opportunity to turn out in front of the Northern faithful before he departs to New Zealand in May.

In the outside backs, Colin Bryans moves from full-back to inside centre, with the Northern Irishman taking over the captaincy for the day in Calum Harper stead. Partnering him is the ever dangerous Jake Letham, who scored in the 17-11 defeat last time against our opponents.

In the back three, both centres from last weeks encounter are moved to the wings, with Michael Mawdsley and Sacha Ponniah starting in each respective berth. At full-back, Hugh Vermont comes back in at full-back, to add a sense of panache to Northern counter-attacking threat.

Covering off the bench are Thomas Mann, who performed brilliantly against Liberton, the irrepressible Kit Walker and Adam Ozay who returns to the side deservedly for the first time in 2017. Covering the backs is joint top try scorer Andrew Crawford Leslie.