Match report by John Leatham

A dreich Sunday morning at Goldenacre saw the Vikings entertain a Boroughmuir side who had beaten them in late September.

As agreed beforehand the game was played in 2 halves of 22.5 minutes. A big thanks to young Blair who refereed the game for us.

The Vikings were nursing a few injuries which impacted availability and with only one substitute on the bench, it was clear every player would need to put a shift in. This depth was tested further early on when Seb Caffrey caught a stray boot to the head in a ruck and was unable to continue.

The Vikings answered the call and then some.

Ferocious forward carries, dominant ruck clearing, excellent line speed. Good decision making on when to go wide and when to punch it up the middle. The Vikings were utterly dominant all first half and set up camp in the Boroughmuir 22 for the duration.

This dominance was rewarded with 3 tries which probably could and should have been more. Good last ditch Boroughmuir defending and a greasy ball in poor conditions contributing to a few untimely errors.

Early in the second half, a handling error in midfield led to a Boroughmuir player fly hacking it through for a score. Unfortunately this caught us cold as the ensuing kick off saw some indecision that allowed a Boroughmuir player to catch it on a favourable bounce and run it in for a quick-fire double.

The message was to get back on task and focus on the next job. Shortly afterwards, from a Boroughmuir scrum the first receiver mishandled and the Vikings players stopped waiting for a knock on to be called but it wasn't and good pace on the blind side saw Boroughmuir stretch in front.

Full credit to the Vikings boys, their heads didn't go down and they got back to the brand of rugby that was providing success in the first half.

Fatigue was starting to set in as our attack line got a bit flatter and Boroughmuir really bowed up in defence, mounting a number of goaline stands.

The Vikings looked to have broken the dam however as the impressive Silas Sneddon crashed over the line. The try appeared to initially have been awarded but sadly the decision was held up and despite valiant efforts the vikings were unable to muster a winning score.

A tough defeat for the boys who were clearly deflated a bit at the end. Week on week we are getting better though, the defence has come on leaps and bounds and the attacking chemistry is coming together. If we keep on this ascending trajectory the wins aren't far away.

There were a number of deserving player of the match candidates and the boys should be very proud of their efforts. Offensive player of the match was Harris Fowley for stepping in at 10 and doing an excellent job of pulling the strings in attack and keeping us on rhythm. Defensive player of the match was Edward Russell who made a number of good tackles behind the gainline.