GALE-force winds and driving sleet levelled up the playing fields all over Scotland on Saturday, but at Lasswade the unbeaten table-toppers from National League Division 3 got their win the hard way.
Playing with the ferocious wind in the first half, they scored three penalties from fly-half Andrew Reid and a well-worked try from Dale Robertson to go in at the break 14 points up, but few around Hawthornden thought that was going to be enough to
claim the scalp of Premier Division 2 Jed-Forest.
To their eternal credit, Lasswade came out and bucked the trend with a second try into now ridiculous sleet, No 8 Donald Hearn powering his way over after several drives from the pack. That was the turning point in this cup tie as, 19-0 up, it proved the trigger for Lasswade to find another gear and inner strength to secure a famous victory.
They played the conditions well and were prepared to pick and drive from their own goal line when necessary, and often it was. By the hour mark there was a real sense of a shock on the cards. Jed were putting in long kicks, but they were going over the dead-ball line rather than bouncing into touch to give them territory, and this handed possession back to Lasswade.
Handling errors also cost Jed-Forest dear, but if there was one bright spot it was teenager Euan Scott, who was making his second appearance for the club. He put on a display that showed he is one to watch.
Particularly impressive was his goal-kicking. He landed four penalties, one of them a massive 65-metre effort from well inside his own half on an angle. The wind helped his cause, but this was an almighty effort caught on film and likely to become a YouTube classic around Jed. The Borders club have struggled this season for a goal-kicker – that problem, at least, may be solved.
However, at 19-12 and with time running out there was no way Lasswade were going to allow Jed's cup run to continue, fighting hard for a deserved win which will be talked about for years.
There were no complaints after the game from Jed coach Cliff Livingston, who admitted: "Lasswade thoroughly deserved their win – they played the conditions better than us and got the tactics right.
"Sometimes a strong wind like that isn't an advantage, but we should have turned things round. Conceding a try after the interval was the poorest part of our game."
Mark Billingham, the Lasswade skipper, who damaged ligaments, said: "It was a brilliant performance by the boys. The backs did what they had to do in the first half and the pack stuck it up the jumper in the second, so our tactics worked perfectly, and to get that try early in the second half was crucial.
"We don't care who we get in the next round so long as it's at home and we have another howling wind to help us out."
Scorers. Lasswade: Tries: Robertson, Hearn. Pens: Reid 3. Jed-Forest: Pens: Scott 4.
Lasswade: N Murray; N Durie, M Souter, B Hennessy, J Carmichael; A Reid, J Elliot; D Robertson, D Turnbull, M Billingham, S Montgomery, C Pow, G Brown, D Hearn, P Robinson. Subs used: R Noble, A Elliot, C Quigley, N Morton.
Jed-Forest: G Walker; R McFarlane, E Scott, J McCraw, D Gobby; S Trotter, R Goodfellow; G Nagle, David Grieve, G Holborn, A Hall, N Cook, Donald Grieve, G Elder, P Pringle. Subs used: P Thomson, M Weekley, L Patton, S Laidlaw.
Referee: A Hoyle.
