Vikings 31 Haddington 7

A cold Sunday morning saw the Vikings entertain Haddington. The match again was split into 22.5 minute halves with a big thank you to young Blair Stirling for refereeing again.

The Vikings were down to the bare bones with a winter lurgy decimating their ranks and leaving only 13 players available. Players were forced into unfamiliar roles but the warm up run through looked good and augured well for the game.

Unfortunately early in the game Seb Caffrey was forced off with what was later diagnosed as a broken clavicle. We all wish Seb a speedy recovery.

Haddington graciously agreed to match our numbers and the game was 12 a side.

Week on week this group of young men have steadily improved and this game saw the fruits of that labour finally rewarded with a well deserved victory in challenging circumstances.

The forwards consistently delivered front football and totally dominated the gain line. The backs played on schedule and constantly probed the edges of the Haddington defence, with a number of scramble tackles keeping the scoreboard more respectable.

Defensively the team consistently forced errors with their line speed and made numerous tackles for negative yards, preventing some of their big runners from getting momentum and a route back into the game. It was a complimentary rugby game for the Vikings in both phases and a real building block to go forward with.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the coaches would have handed out 12 player of the match awards if we could because every player contributed and were important in this win. However special mention must go to Alex Waddell who playing as an emergency forward put in a mammoth shift to earn defensive player of the game. Offensive player of the game went to Bertie Beckett who had some outstanding carries and terrorised the Haddington defence all game.

A huge congratulations to the boys securing their first win and we will continue to build our chemistry going forward and improve week on week.