Livvy show depth of character in fightback

Dec 18 2008 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

AT long last the boys returned to rugby action last weekend as the weather improved enough to allow the Scottish Bowl tie between Livingston Under-16 and Biggar Under-16 to be played.

Livingston started brightly and capitalised on a nervy start by their opponents to take a well-deserved lead through a fine try by Kristjan Gamble who was returning to action after a month-long absence.

At this stage of the game Livingston were dominating all aspects of the play and it was only their poor decision-making metres from the line that kept the scoreline at 5-0.

Biggar grew in confidence as the Livvy players spurned countless opportunities and were soon leading an admirable fightback, which was spearheaded by their combative No8.

The ferocity of Biggar’s play rocked the Livvy boys and when Biggar scored two tries in short succession the writing was on the wall for the West Lothian side.

Biggar missed a penalty directly in front of the posts, which would have pushed them further ahead.

At half time the County boys were trailing by seven points as Biggar stretched their tally to 12.

Livvy responded well to a strong half-time team talk from their coaches and began to match their opposition for determination, which in turn allowed their rugby skills to come to the fore, pinning Biggar in their own half for much of the second period.

Patience was the key to the West Lothian club drawing level as Dean Edwards did well to remain on side and pounce upon a loose ball to kick through and score in the corner.

Ewan Naysmith converted from the touchline to bring the scoreline all square at 12-12 with 20 minutes left to play.

Drawing level restored the Livvy players’ confidence and they showed a real willingness to support each other in the contact situations and time and again drove back a very committed Biggar side but no scoring opportunities were being created as both teams increased the intensity again as we went in to the last 10 minutes of the game with the scores tied.

Livvy pulled clear of their opponents as a result of a quick turnover ball from a Liam Black tackle and some clever hands in the back line and captain Jack Hall broke clear of his opposite number and scorched in for a long-distance try, evading a number of desperate tacklers on the way to crossing the try line.

Naysmith successfully converted to push Livingston 19-12 ahead.

The West Lothian side had to fight hard to keep their try line intact as the Lanarkshire youngsters threw everything at them for the final few minutes of this hard-fought encounter.

As the game went in to time added on for stoppages and tension mounted, Biggar had three penalties in quick succession on the Livingston line, but the defence retained its shape and composure to drive back their opponents time and again before eventually turnover ball was secured to give Ewan Naysmith the chance to hammer the ball out of the field and end a titanic cup battle.

Kyle Salmond and Ross Craig epitomised the spirit of the Livingston side in the course of producing their best games for the club, and can be proud of their overall contribution to a hugely improved team performance.

The victory pushes Livingston through to the quarter-finals of the National Bowl competition where they are scheduled to play the winners of Ellon against Caithness at Almond Park on Sunday, December 21.

The boys are acutely aware that they have to repeat the level of skill and determination shown in the second half of this match to give them any chance of progressing in this prestigious competition.