Welcome to another instalment of a Super 2s match report.
Friday night rugby was back and saw the Super 2s take a wee jaunt to the borders to face Peebles at Hay Lodge Park. These pitches have had a major revamp with the installation of floodlights and more sand in the pitches than Porty Beach!!
Both teams had large squads with some ‘fringe firsts players’ available for selection, so it was all set to be a fab game.
Lasswade got off to a bad start when the kick off never went 10 #GIVE IT A HOOF
Both teams where trying to find their feet and the game for the first ten minutes was stuck in the middle of the field. David Hall made a good break from his own 22 and made it all the way to the Peebles 22 but Peebles where able to clear their lines. Lasswade where making some great in roads but final passes let them down #POOR HANDS.Another poor aspect of Lasswades game recently has been high penalty counts and through this Peebles had an early opportunity but pushed the kick wide. Peebles piled loads of pressure on Lasswade but great defence kept Peebles at bay #CLEAR THE LINES. A loose ball was hacked up field, but Peebles counter was made to look good with poor tackles and as a result took 7 points. Spurred on by this, Lasswade put pressure on Peebles from the restart and a resulting penalty allowed Lasswade an attacking line out. A great driving maul saw Jed Smith make a break but was stopped short, but Mario Luongo was on hand to scoop up the ball to score #ITALIAN STALLION. The game was even stevens and good pressure by Lasswade saw Peebles spill the ball several times allowing David Hall to pick up loose balls and make a nuisance of himself in the Peebles defence. Sloppy play especially at rucks allowed to many easy turnovers, that with a lack of concentration saw Peebles score another converted try. With play being between the 22s again, saw Lasswade with quick hands allowing Rick McKenna to make an impressive 50m dash being stopped just 10 metres short. Peebles where able to clear their lines, only to see David Hall make great returns with Lasswade stringing together an amount of phases to look good on any stats table.

HALF TIME - PEEBLES A 14 LASSWADE 7

Stern words from Oz concerning high penalty counts, but so many positives from the rest of the teams play saw the coaches want more of the same. The start of the second half saw more phases and great play from Lasswade with just the final pass letting them down #KEEP CALM AND PLAY RUGBYThis was letting Peebles off the hook and annoyingly Peebles where then able to add another converted try to the scoresheet. Blair Smiths introduction into the fray saw a great break up the middle and lead to more sustained pressure from Lasswade on the Peebles 22, but again a loose ball at a line out saw Peebles clear their lines although not by far. Lasswade where still trying frantically to get another score and where stringing some great phases together but a loose ball saw Peebles break upfield and as the winger chipped Andy Hall, the attacker was taken out as Andy was in the air #ROSE LIKE A SALMON.The resultant penalty was turned over and cleared only as far as the Lasswade 22. The referee was making some questionable decisions for both teams but when Ian Wilson was felled whilst hacking a ball through #TACKLED WITHOUT THE BALL,play on was called!! Sam Cowe also cleared out a Peebles players at a ruck on the far away touch line and was ‘held back’ by the Peebles tough judge. This was highlighted by young Dave McFeate during a Clarkson Fracas #OLD SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS. As a result of this, Peebles then scored a pushover try. Mario Luongo has improved a lot during this season and as a good open side flanker was tackling like a demon and being a real thorn in the Peebles side #RICHIE MCCAW PASTABAKE.Penalties again were undoing all of Lasswade’s hard work which was raising Oz’s blood pressure. Another sweeping Lasswade attack saw Ian Wilson make a good 30 metres with the ball behind his back – literally #JUGGLER FOR THIS CIRCUS.Sean Hadden then made a great break and if had backed his pace he would have beat the defender on the outside, unfortunately he was looking for support and was hit by a train #THATS GONNA HURT As a result though the defender saw yellow as he never controlled Sean’s descent as he was pile driven into the ground. This led to more great attacks from Lasswade with Andy Hall finally scoring all be it through a penalty try due to constant Peebles infringements. Peebles where constantly offside and the ref was finally picking up on this but Lasswade where getting frantic in their play while trying to get another score. This allowed Peebles to clear but the back three where happy to return the ball back with interest and where making good yardage in their returns. Craig McFarlane showed his five-a-side skills by trapping a loose ball nicely like a good keeper #CAT LIKE REACTIONS. Dylan Turnbull was also relishing his game time by making some telling runs whilst interlinking between the forwards and backs. The pressure was constantly on Peebles but the Lasswade effort fell short of another score and the game came to a close.

FULL TIME - PEEBLES A 28 LASSWADE 2XV 14

Another great performance which fell short with the result not going our way again.
The last fixture of the season is at home against Kelso, so hope we can get a large crowd up to support the guys.

The squad was:-
Monty, Dylan, Sam coo, Bruce, doogie, wee wee, mario, higgy (captain)
Jed, Lewis, Rick, Rory, mark, yokel 2, yokel 1
Da Bench
Dave Mac, new boy, chook, Blair, Sean, Ian, rusty