Livi made to work hard for Bonus Point victory over Cougars

Livi kicked off at Almond Park on Saturday hoping to continue where the left off last week against 3rd Place RHC Cougars , the conditions were good although a little soft under foot however all credit had to go to the ground staff after the deluge of rain over the past week.

From the start Livi looked sharp collecting their own kick off and building a number of phases inside the RHC half , and some good strong running from centres McMahon and Scobie punched some holes but on a couple of occasions the final pass let the boys in Pink down. After some good pressure it was RHC who had the first opportunity for points when livi gave away a penalty on half way fortunately for Livi the kick wend wide and they could regroup to form an attack again. Livi pushed into the RHC 22 and after some good work by the forwards , scrum half Bruton found Aaron Johnston in space on the blindside and the Aussie skipped past 2 defenders to cross in the corner to bring the score to 5-0 . This would be the only point in the half livi would be ahead as RHC showed why they were sitting 3rd in the league with some good work of their own , Firstly 2 Penalties brought the score to 6-5 to RHC before a strong run from the RHC backs (as well as a number of missed tackles from livi) allowed the RHC centre to cross and touchdown under the posts giving Euan Morrison an easy conversion to bring the score to 13-5 to RHC after 20 Minutes.

As with many matches this season Livi had to Pull their socks up and come from behind , and although the Forwards were not dominating in their usual fashion the Livi Backs were being very inventive and in an almost identical move to the first score Jamie King pushed down the flank and released Andy McMahon to cross in the corner , Edwards missed the conversion from tight on the touchline but livi had pulled back to 13-10 , Another penalty from RHC pushed the score to 16-10 but just before the break McMahon fed Jason Watt to release him on the same flank and he crossed for the 3rd try in the same spot , once again Edwards was unsuccessful with the Kick and Livi went into the break 16-15 down even though scoring 3 tries to 1.

Livi knew they were in a game and RHC were working hard in the tight and when the second half kicked off they knew the next score would be crucial. Both teams came out with intent and both were pushing for the all important score , Livi struck first when they were awarded a penalty that Bolan who had took over kicking duties slotted to bring the Score to 18-16 , Livi then pushed deep into the 22 with a good kick and a great driving Maul by the forwards pushed the Almond Park men over the line with Flanker Jamie Miller coming up with the ball , Livi were now 23-16 and had picked up the bonus point. However with only a score in it the game was still in the balance , Tactically Livi were doing really well and stand off Bolan and Scrum half Bruton were using the pitch really well and pushing balls into the corners to great effect , on top of that the defence line speed was good and from some pressure Livi stole the ball just outside the 22 and centre McMahon picked up a loose ball and sprinted into space and crossed the line with an elaborate swan dive to push live further ahead , Bolan then hit the first conversion of the day to take the score to 30-16 and now with 2 scores in it livi could play with a bit less pressure , 5 Minutes later Livi extended the lead again and put the result beyond doubt when Bolan picked up a loose ball beautifully one handed and although being tackled just short used the wet pitch to his advantage to slide and stretch and score to bring the score to 35-16.

To their credit RHC worked hard all game and did not give up and responded with a score of their own after driving over from 5 metres out to take the score to 35-21 , This gave them a spark and in the final minutes put together a number of good phases but to the delight of the Livi support despite being 2 tries up the Livi boys were still putting their bodies on the line and putting in some big hits and managed to repel the attack until Captain McMahon kicked the ball out for the referee to blow for full time.

After the match coach Graham Ferrier said "RHC proved a stern test but the boys done well to stick to the game plan and show some patience and take the opportunities when they came, we can never be complacent as we know teams will be looking to turn us over and we will have to continue to work hard in what is sure to be a bruising encounter when we travel to Linlithgow on Saturday for the West Lothian Derby , we hope the great support we have had continues and we see plenty numbers their on Saturday"