Dunbar 24 – NBRFC 17

The rain arrived just as forecast & although the pitch was in good condition the ball was very slippy which led to a lot of handling errors & more scrums than NB would have chosen – having said that that contest was closer than expected with neither side gaining any particular advantage, which must be a credit to the three retired players who pulled on the boots for more time. Due to a number of call-offs NB travelled with just the one substitute which limited options.
Playing into the wind and just before the rain came down NB started quickly & after pressure on the right shifted the ball to left, Findlay Graham playing at centre took it at speed and touched down in the corner. This lead lasted until 16 minutes when a loose clearance kick was ran right back into the NB defence, a couple of missed tackles meant that everyone had to pile in to stop the runner which then allowed the spare man an easy run in. Converted to make it 7 – 5 to Dunbar.
In 23 minutes a loose ball was kicked forward by NB, putting their own player offside & gifting an easy penalty to take the score to 10 – 5. Worse was to follow as another loose kick was returned with interest deep into the NB left hand corner, they then lost their own line-out and Dunbar crashed from short-range to make it 17 – 5
Dunbar were pushing hard for a decisive score but a high tackle on 28 minutes resulted in them going down to 14 men and this relieved the pressure a little. So NB started the second half with high hopes and the wind behind them. On 46 minutes the ball was fed out to winger Frankie Armstrong who crashed over in the left corner. The difficult conversion was missed but NB were certainly back in the game at 17 – 10.
But then NB seemed to switch off at the restart, the kick-off was dropped which put them under pressure and then tackle after tackle was missed, allowing Dunbar an easy run right through the middle of the defence to dot down under the posts, converted to make the score 24 – 10.
On 68 minutes Dunbar lost a player to another yellow card, & then a third on 74 minutes. NB took their opportunity on 76 minutes after Dunbar had defended their lines for almost five minutes, Jamie March diving over and then Stuart Lorimer coolly slotting a drop-kick to make it 24 – 17. From then on NB were camped on the Dunbar line and came close a couple of times but finally a mistake crept in & Dunbar were able to kick the ball dead for a hard-fought and well-deserved victory.
Man of the match went to Alex McKay who worked tirelessly all day in defence & attack.
NB are at home next week to Leith, who they narrowly beat back in September, so the team will be working hard this week and hoping for a few returning players to share the load.