Haddington Rugby Football Club

Colts defeat Berwick

                                 Haddington Colts                           

                       Another fine display seals win

                           

Final Score....Berwick-0...Haddington Colts-72

The scoreline reads a masacre but alot of hard work and effort from all the players involved was what finally gave us the 72 points earned against a Berwick side that was completley shell shocked by the end of the match.

The performance was of the highest quality with most of the tries scored having been worked through the phases and team efforts rather than individual run ins. There were a couple of beauties which have to be put down in writing for the sake of history. Donald Logan and Euan Maddox (showing Bull how to dot the ball down under the posts) were the try scorers of a couple in particular in which all 15 players played a part in. Other plus points include the strong defensive effort which was also put in to deny Berwick any handle on a way back into the game. In the last 3 games I dont think I have ever witnessed as many Monster hits going in since I have been involved with the Colts. Long may it continue.

This was the 3rd winning game of a 4 match series in the Borders and we go into the last game against Gala on Saturday under no illusions that they would be the scalp we would prize the most. Gala Wanderers have been the strongest Border under 18 team over the last few years and our boys will have to raise their game to compete with them. This is also the last game before we start our Edinburgh under 18 league campaign. It is a game we want to win!

Meet at club on Saturday at 12 noon (cars) for a 2 pm kick off in Gala (Netherdale)

Pictures from the Berwick game below

                                                                               

                                                                                                                            

CEILIDH - 7 NOVEMBER 2008

In order to raise funds for the Club, it has been decided to start the social season off with a Ceilidh in the Corn Exchange, Haddington on Friday 7th November 2008.

The evening will feature the Lismore Ceilidh Band who guarantee to put everyone through their paces!  Haddington Pipe Band will also feature during the event.

The kick off is 7.30pm with the final whistle being sounded at 12 midnight.  Tickets are priced at £6 (adults) £4 (under 18's). 

No excuses, a great family night out - Bring your own booze and food!

Tickets are available from Mary Lou Renton, Zoe Munro, and Sian McNeill.

Selkirk 7s Draw

Haddington have been paired with the Scottish Academy at the Selkirk 7s on Saturday. An added edge to the tie will be the sight of Neil Rodger in the opposing camp!

The full draw reads (first tie 1.30pm) -

SELKIRK v KELSO
BIGGAR v EDINBURGH ACCIES
PERTHSHIRE v. PEEBLES
HAWICK v. JED-FOREST
SCOTTISH ACADEMY v. HADDINGTON
NEWCASTLE FALCONS v. GALA
LANGHOLM v. MELROSE
WATSONIANS v. BERWICK 

Match report vs Hawick

Haddington 21 Hawick 12

The Scarlets got their 2nd Prem 1 scalp in four days at the weekend with a hard fought win over Hawick. The Borders men had a full 7s squad missing but with the home team also sending some 1st XV players to Kelso and coping with a number of injuries this was another win to savour, indeed it's the clubs first win over Hawick in our history!

The opening exchanges were pretty scrappy with neither side managing to gain much ascendancy. The visitors regularly made large inroads in tight channels as some of the Haddington defensive work in these areas was pretty soft. However, slightly against the run of play it was Haddington who got the first try with Euan Herkes barging over after several phases of pressure.

Hawick hit back promptly with a try out wide before Haddington extended their lead to 14-5 with a try on the stroke of half-time. A turnover in defence was cleared long up the pitch with Craig Samuel leading the chase. He turned over the attempted counter-attack and the ball was fed wide to Calum Cockburn who strolled over the line with half-a-dozen supporting players not needed.

The 2nd half continued in similar fashion with Hawick enjoying more of the match but struggling to convert any of the half chances that they created. Eventually, they managed a score out wide following sustained pressue.

The winning score came five minutes from time, a simple back row move creating the space for Euan Herkes to double his tally with a clinical score. Greig Taylor converted to maintain his perfect record on the day.

This was a mixed performance from Haddington, light up with some great passages of play. However, the defence wasn't as good as it has been to date this season and Hawick dominated much of the match. That will be the main focus in training this week as they build up to the final pre-season test away to Kirkcaldy this Saturday.

The squad that travelled to the Kelso 7s were unfortunate to be drawn against King of the Sevens winners from last season, Selkirk, in the first round and although they put up a spirited display, went down heavily against the eventual finalists.

Colts win against Duns

The Colts won their second game of a four match Border road trip

Final score ..... Duns-0 Haddington Colts-59

Duns were a very young side and after the 1st period of play decided they were only up to playing 3 X 20 minute sessions instead of the 4 sessions we were looking to play to give our big playing squad some decent game time.

Haddington dominated proceedings scoring 5 tries in the first 20 minutes and changed the entire pack of forwards for the second 20 minutes. Things didnt change much with Haddington always in charge of ball and territorial domination. This was ideal preparation for younger members of the squad to feel comfortable playing at Colts level as they grew in confidence throughout the match. 

It was disappointing not to play a full match but positives can be taken from another good display and the ability to keep a decent shape about the team when it was a relatively easy match.

Highlights included The DC Ninja working a dream......Calum Low dropping the ball over the line with no pressure on him whatsoever..He is a prop/hooker!.....Kyle Adams scoring a well taken hatrick.....And Keith Logan in his ultra reliable Volvo, breaking down on the high road over the Lammermuir hills from Gifford to Duns. Only the intervention of Kevin Bowen driving past stopped keith from eating one of his passengers to survive. Dougie Symington was the man on the menu.

The next game on the card is away to Berwick Colts on Tuesday night 19th August..Meet at the club at 5pm..Cars

                                       

          

1st XV Match Report

                   Haddington 10  v  Edinburgh Accies 7

Haddington stepped up preparations for the new season with a morale-boosting win over Premier One side, Edinburgh Accies. A big crowd turned out as the game kicked off with Accies looking to punch up through the middle using their big pack, however, they were matched up front by the physical Haddington pack who continually deprived them off any quality go-forward ball. Haddington tried to stretch Accies on occasions but their defence was watertight and kept the Reds at bay whenever the first line of defence was breached. The game was played at a fast pace with neither team giving an inch, which made it all the more surprising that the scoreline stayed blank in a highly competative first forty minutes.

Half Time: Haddington 0 v Edinburgh Accies 0

The Reds had the slope in the second half and tried to use it with some probing kicks that started to peg Accies back into their own half. Sustained pressure on the Accies goal-line lead to the referee awarding a Penalty to the Reds, which Neil Watt cleverly took quickly and scuttled over for the first try. Greig Taylor kicked the conversion for a 7 - 0 lead. As expected Accies came straight back at Haddington and forced their own pressure on the home side, which eventually told with a try through the midfield. The added conversion meant the scores were tied at 7 - 7 with about 25 minutes still to play. Both sides kept up the pace to try and snatch the all-important score that would settle the match and with only a few minutes remaining it was Haddington, through Greig Taylor, who kicked the Penalty to grab a hard fought victory.

Full Time: Haddington 10 v Edinburgh Accies 7

This was the type of warm up match Haddington had hoped for in order to see where they were in terms of preparation for the first league match in a couple of weeks, and on this showing they can only be encouraged by how they played, the only downside was an ankle injury to full-back, Sam Hughes, which we hope is not too serious.