Dunfermline win at Livingston

Dunfermline P5s travelled through to a breezy Livingston with a squad of 10 players.
Team: Aidan, Andrew, Charlie, Duncan, Gregor, Jamie A, Jamie U, Kian, Matthew, Murray.
The format of the day was for a couple of games against our hosts, which were played as 8-a-side games.

Match 1:
The first match started very positively for Dunfermline, with some good passing and forward running giving us a fairly immediate 2-0 lead. However, Livingston re-gathered and began to show a decent running, passing and rucking game which our boys struggled at times to contain. The rest of the half was fairly even, a try a piece, though our boys had lost focus and the initial controlled team play had broken down into individual efforts; little evidence of rucking to secure good ball and a preference for a direct approach rather than putting the ball through the hands to the winger.
This set the tone for the rest of the match, and while we saw decent individual performances with good running from Charlie, Jamie A and Aidan, and Jamie U & Matthew doing their defensive duties with some fine tackling, Dunfermline never cut loose as they had initially threatened, eventually winning by a narrow 5-3 scoreline.

Match 2:
After a 10 minute rest, the boys took to the field again for a second match. This had a similar feel to the first game, with the play being kept too narrow, which made it easy for Livingston to defend. Strong running from Kian kept us going forward, with one run resulting in a fine try. Credit to Livingston, they had a more aggressive rucking game which turned over possession regularly for them, and as a result our defence was constantly tested. Gregor led the defensive effort with some fine tackling, one saving a certain try from their nippy winger, also Murray stepped up to the challenge and brought his opposite number down on several occasions. Defensively our organisation was looking better than of late, with Andrew vocal in organising the line, and Duncan leading by example in closing down space at the restarts. Duncan put in the performance of the day with a busy game in and around the rucks and was the most aware at the breakdown, which allowed him to keep Dunfermline in the lead with a couple of opportunistic scores. Final score was 5-4 to Dunfermline.

All in all, lots of good individual performances with plenty of effort and determination. Still plenty of room for improvement in the rucks, with the Dunfermline players a bit too hesitant. We also need to play as a team and develop our passing game to find the space down the flanks. It’s getting there though…..

Thanks to Livingston for the competitive matches and for being excellent hosts.