Dalziel 16 Lasswade 10

Dalziel have hovered round the upper half of League rugby since the 80’s, getting as high as the old Division 2 but more recently needing to fight back into Premier 3 from National 1.

They finished in the middle of the Division last year and came to their first ever encounter with Lasswade having also won five and lost three so far.

Needing to bounce back from the ending last week of their four year home unbeaten record, Dalziel Park proved too tough a venue for the Midlothian visitors and they had to settle for the second losing bonus point in a row.

Under a lowering grey sky that always threatened but never delivered a deluge, Dalziel opened with the wind at their backs. They piled on the pressure from the outset forcing Lasswade to defend in the own 22 for the first five minutes.

Against this run of play it was the visitors that drew first blood when an attack broke down and the ball was whisked out to Gray on the left wing to outstrip his opposite number all the way to the posts for an easy conversion by Wood.

The celebrations were short lived though when, just three minutes later, Donnachie the Dalziel scrum half chipped over a ruck on the 22 into an acre of unguarded territory for Lewis Mathieson to chase down five points in the corner.

With both sides defending well, play was seldom in either 22 but Dalziel had the edge in both possession, territory and in the set pieces.

The third and what proved to be the final try came on the half hour when Kyle Mathieson cradled a Lasswade drop-out, blasted and weaved his way deep into the 22 and had the burly Baxendale at centre on hand to break the last two tackles and touch down.

With the half time score at 10-7, the second half was a tense affair dominated by the defensive skills of both sides. Through the third quarter Dalziel continued to pose the greater threat and were the more streetwise at the breakdowns but could only add three points in the 53rd minute through No 15 Simpson.

The last quarter belonged to Lasswade as they desperately struggled to retrieve the day. A Brown penalty attempt drifted narrowly wide with a quarter hour to go but Wood was more successful 8 minutes later.
The visitors continued to bang at the door into stoppage time but Dalziel had the final word with a break out leading to a penalty and another three points from Simpson as the closing act.

In the closest thing to a local derby for both clubs, Lasswade welcome old friends Haddington back to Hawthornden this Saturday for their first ever league fixture. Relegated from Premier 2 in 2010, the East Lothian club just about held their own last season but have only 2 wins from nine starts in this. Kickoff 3pm.