The London Scottish boys, representing the Junior Lions, enjoyed a winning start to their LV Cup campaign, in a tightly fought away fixture at Harrow RFC.
The team are in a mini league along with Barnet, Ruislip and Ealing so an away win was an important first step in the competition.
For the first twenty minutes both teams struggled to threaten the opposition line due mainly to some good defence. However, it was the Scottish boys that made the first incisive move of the game. A well taken line-out was caught and the forwards drove the Harrow team back into their own 22. The expectation was that the drive would continue, but fly-half Iain called for the ball and an inside pass allowed Fergus to make ground and then put Harry in under the posts. Fergus duly converted for a 0-7 score-line.
Scottish looked to be in control of the game but could not manage to secure a second score. A series of penalties and some good counter-rucking from the Harrow forwards meant the Scottish play lacked real continuity. It was Harrow that levelled proceedings on the stroke of half-time. A sumptuous off-load from a double tackle by the Harrow inside centre, created the space for an equalising score.
Five minutes into the second half and Harrow took the lead. The Scottish boys temporarily stopped for a knock-on that wasn’t given and this allowed Harrow to sprint clear and score for a 12-7 lead.
With twenty minutes to go it was the Scottish team that looked the most threatening. A series of breaks from forwards and backs alike, put the Harrow team under pressure. The pressure eventually told and Raphael managed to finish off a good period of pressure by skirting round the opposition and run in for a try near to the posts. Fergus converted again to re-take the lead. 12-14.
Scottish gained confidence and showed some excellent handling, threatening on two or three occasions and by now the team were running some good support lines and this allowed for a series of off-loads that even had the Harrow coaches praising the play. With the game nearing the close a final break by Ross created space for second-row, Ka-cie, who brilliantly out-sprinted the cover for the winning score.
Man of the match: Ryan Jones
Scottish Line-Up: Isaac Koomson; Mzi Khafula; Ethan Edwards-Haye; Ka-cie Addison; Brandon Babalola; Sami Cheqrouni-Espinar; Ross Ludlow; Jack Kiddell; Doug McLaughlin; Charlie Kelly; Alistair McLaughlin; Demi Ajeigbe; Iain Rees; Victor Asomugha; Ryan Jones (C); Raphael Letzelter; Fergus Anderson; Harry Montgomery; Josh Ferguson; Liam Doig; David Semu.
