Livingston 2nds 61 v 7 Dunbar 2nds

With a great atmosphere in the air, Saturday’s game with Dunbar was set to be an exciting game. And with the return of some old faces the squad was looking good with a mix of old and new players.

The game kicked off with a promising start from Livingston, the home team pushing hard after some great play from the returning back row of David Stone, Graham Steel and Captain, Simon Reynolds. With only 5 minutes played Livingston were on the score board with a well worked try from Clinton Lundie, which Colin Cantley converted.
From this start it looked like it would be a good game, but with mistakes coming from both sides the action slowed down. It started to look more like a training game rather than a league game.

Colin Cantley continued to tick the score board over with 3 good penalties coming from many infringements by Dunbar. Livingston had a few good chances before the end of the half which were squandered.

Half time score 16-0 to Livingston.

Colin Cantley left the field at half time through injury, and some players made way for fresh legs, the team started the second half as they did the first, with an early individuall try from new stand off Jamie King, normally a explosvie back row going over under the posts. Ali Williamson took over the kicking duties and followed in Colin’s boots and slotted his first attempt.

With some good open play from both teams, Livingston managed to get a penalty out of a high tackle from Dunbar. Ali stepped up to continue his early form with another good kick to take the score to 26-0.

By now Livingston proved to be a handful for the visiting team with a try coming from captain Simon Reynolds, Converted by Ali Williamson. Luck seemed to be on the blue and whites side with some enjoyable to watch rugby. Although when everything looked to be going all Livingston’s way, Dunbar struck back after a moment of sloppy play from Livingston’s backs, With Dunbar’s no 14 proving too good to stop after some lightning steps and impressive speed to finish under the posts which it was converted to take the score to 33-7.

This play seemed to kick Livingston back into gear and after a lot of pressure coming from the forward pack, centre Neil Gibson the golden oldie of the team crossed to re-ignite their scoring ways. Ali again proved he could handle the pressure and pushed over another kick to take the lead to 40-7.

From here the team kept up the attack and proceeded to score a great try from our Italian newcomer Alessandro Varricchio, conversion secured by Ali Williamson. With everyone wanting to impact the game Ian Day took his chance and put his name on the score sheet with a strong attack finished off with some fancy foot work. Proving he was truly in control, Ali converted again.

With the game drawing to a close Alessandro chose to finish what was already an exciting and enjoyable start to the season with a spectacular bit of play to close the scoring with an excellent try. Ali Williamson finished off his “Man of the match” performance with a final conversion to keep his 100% record for the day.

The game finished Livingston 61 Dunbar 7

Report by Richard Cooper