Conditions were wet and blustery, and Ross High seemed to lack the same level of intensity in the
lead up to their East League 1 outing against Portobello. This impression was confirmed when
Portobello scored within a minute of kicking off down the slope. After retaining possession for a few
phases, a clever grubber kick behind the home defence saw their winger touch down for an
unconverted try. However, their clearance kick from the re-start was charged down by Connor
Ramsay who was able to touch down for the equalising try.
Ross High picked up the pace from there, and within minutes a sustained period of pressure saw
Steven Elms score in the corner, with a fine touchline conversion by Murray Jack. Before too long
Portobello’s ambitious but flawed attempts to run the ball from their own line led to a dropped ball
which Murray Jack pounced on to score and convert the third try. Although lacking the fluency of
last week the home team bludgeoned their way upfield once more before half-time, finished off by
scrum half Jamie Muir scoring the fourth try, and a 24:5 lead at the interval.
If anything the second half was even more disjointed. Both teams struggled in the conditions,
handling errors and penalty infringements preventing Ross High from building their lead. After
eventually gaining field position and creating more jittery defensive errors from the visitors, Ryan
Strachan collected a loose ball to score. Portobello , however, continued to run the ball at every
opportunity and were rewarded with a second try from a short range penalty. Ross High responded
well, gaining field position from which Strachan touched down for a pushover try converted by
Tayler White as the home pack began to exert some dominance.
Passes finally began to stick and slick handling saw winger Blair Patterson go over for try number
seven, and as the visitors tired, some accurate inter-passing at speed saw Connor Ramsay rewarded
for a man-of-the-match display with his second try. Scoring was rounded off on the last play when
James Peel broke through some unconvincing tackling to score the ninth try which White converted
for a convincing but far from perfect 55:10 victory.