15 February 2020

NL 2 – Stewart’s Melville 18 Preston Lodge 0

Preston Lodge visited Inverleith fourteen days after the our narrow cup win this time on league business in a game accompanied yet again by high winds and driving rain. Unlike last time Stew Mel pretty much dominated possession and secured a territorial advantage throughout and not just for half the game with the forwards putting in a strong performance. After a prolonged period of attack without yielding a try Stew Mel took the option of three points from a penalty and that remained the score at half-time.

The second half started in similar fashion with Stew Mel kicking a second penalty for a 6-0 advantage after 46 minutes. Eventually the forward pressure told with a try by Scott Alldritt after 51 minutes in giving us an 11-0 lead which looked safe for the win given the elements. A further try late on and converted by Euan Morrison took the margin to 18 points which fairly reflected the dominance of Stew Mel and the four match points won took us out of fourth place to the top of the league. Seven games remain with only one of these against a top half team.

Before the match the club’s pre match lunch was a near full house attended by 95 past players and guests with many of those present not seen at Inverleith for some time. Afterwards the stand was as well filled as it has been this season though that might have had something to do with the awful weather brought by “Storm Denis”. It was a great effort by the club to get so many to the lunch.