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Portobello travelled the 5½ hours to RAF Kinloss on Saturday with great hope that they could progress to the next round of the BT Cup. Even with the plethora of calls off and unavailables, the belief was still there that a result could be ground out.
Portobello had to cancel their Colts match at Dalkeith in order to ensure enough players/substitutes, a very difficult decision and there were a number of players playing who probably didn't really want to. Both Justin Molotnikov and Craig Gentle were returning for the first time in years. Four of the starting lineup were in their forties and with the squad containing four seventeen year olds, this was always going to be tough.
The boys showed no sign of jet lag and got straight down business. RAF Kinloss started well with some breaks in the midfield, the new midfield of Dave Hardy, Justin Molotnikov and Kevin Bulloch taking some time to gel. Kinloss had some big strong guys and they intended to use them. Their stand off also had a pretty decent boot on him and he was beginning to use this.
Against the run of play, Portobello opened the scoring first with a well taken try. A lineout was won by Jim Bagshaw and went down the line to Justin. A typical big man break allowed space for a pass to Kevin Bulloch. He outpaced the other defenders for a good try. Converted by Dave Hardy.
RAF Kinloss player dodges a Steve Porteous tackle, Kevin Bulloch and Justin Molotnikov look on
The rest of the second half was more or less the same. Portobello allowing RAF Kinloss too much room and not getting the first up tackles in. The referee allowing two tries in quick succession, the first involved crossing in the middle which he ignored and the other a blatant forward pass which he missed.
The RAF stand off continued to boringly put the ball down into the Porty half, everytime he got the ball. Portobello wanted to play open rugby but they weren't going to be allowed. Kick kick kick, bore bore bore.
RAF Kinloss winger makes a break as Clark Scott makes a tackle
RAF Kinloss got another try right before half time, a blind side move off the back of a scrum was badly defended and allowed the winger a simple run in under the posts. The referee was giving Portobello absolutely nothing and continued to give decisions the way of the home team.
Kinloss were on top and despite losing an early try were in control, three tries to one.
Half time, RAF Kinloss 20, Portobello 7
Porty got the second half underway in much the same fashion as they finished the first, under the cosh. Yet another chaotic restart allowed the home team to post an early converted score up the middle.
A good pick up from the scrum near to the Kinloss line was driven by the Portobello pack. At the heart of was scrum-half Steve Porteous (close second for Man Of The Match). The whole pile went over the line and under the posts with the last man up, Steve, being awarded a well deserved try. Dave Hardy converted again.
Portobello brought on young Michael Ridd for his 1XV debut. Despite lacking in size, he handled himself well and showed no fear of the opposition.
RAF Kinloss scrum half recycles the ball
An average attack by Kinloss then resulted in a try, once again the referee had no idea what was going on. Their stand off chipping through for their big lanky full back to chase, however he was well in front of the kicker. The Portobello defence froze, and he easily beat his counterpart, Roarty, to the touchdown. An undeserved score.
Some good attacking play again by Portobello who didn't know when they were beaten. Open play was halted by another RAF Kinloss penalty, once again the Kinloss men had an injury. They had done this all day in an attempt to slow the game down. Once the "injured" man got to his feet, Portobello continued their open attacking rugby and a nice break and one handed pass from Craig Gentle was enough to give Justin the room to barrel over. The Softest of all Lads added the extras to give the visitors a great start.
RAF Kinloss win a lineout as the Porty pack look on
Kinloss added another try as they ran the length of the pitch. A last ditch tackle by Ed Henderson resulted in the Kinloss man throwing the ball at the skipper's head. The referee blowing his whistle loudly and for the only time in the game, showed some back bone, awarding a penalty to Portobello from the kick off.
This score gave the seasiders a fighting chance of overhauling the lead, but this was soon snuffed out, when a loose pass from Roarty on the home 22 allowed the Kinloss flanker to run the length of the park to seal a well earned win.
Portobello now sure the game was lost, threw on their substitutes, Colts Stuart Douglas and Martin Currie coming on and not letting anyone down. Kevin "Shagger" Marshall coming on in the back row.
A late consolation was added by young Michael Burns, keeping up his impressive scoring record with the big boys, when he latched on to one of Softy's rare passes and went over on the final play of the day.
Full time, RAF Kinloss 44, Portobello 26
His first game back for a few years with a shoulder injury, you would never have guessed. Back to his rampaging, lineout stealing best, Craig Gentle had a fine game when all around him were having an average one. Some fine charges and a great assist on one of the tries. Well done.
The referee had an absolute shocker. As per usual in these situations, a local referee is brought in and there is always a feeling of unfairness. He had no real grip of the game (and the rules) and failed to deal with every situation that arose.
It was a good game, a good spectacle for running rugby and the only disappointment was the Portobello performance on the day, and of course the result.
A long way to travel for a demoralising defeat. There wasn't much in the way of silver linings to cling to but Stevie had yet another tenacious showing at 9 and the young chaps certainly never let anyone down. However the real bonus on the day was the return of Craig Gentle in the second row and he was rightly nominated by the hosts as our man of the match. Excellent lineout work, meaty tackling and some good bursts in the loose highlighted what we have been missing in his absence. A disappointing loss, but certainly there are still grounds for optimism for the rest of the season.
The score may be reported in other places at 44-24, however the score was indeed 44-26, the referee failing to keep track of the third Portobello conversion. This score was already phoned into the SRU so amazingly this score stands. This just about sums him up.
A big thank you to all the players and officials and supporters who made the trip up. It was a disappointing day but was great fun. Portobello now progress to the Bowl.
Peter Griffin, Danny Roarty, Vic Rickis and Ed Henderson
| 1= | Kevin Bulloch | 9 |
| 1= | Sean Hollywood | 9 |
| 3= | Fraser Boyter | 3 |
| 3= | Ronald Gallon | 3 |
| 5= | Danny Roarty | 2 |
| 5= | Dave Hardy | 2 |
| 5= | Chris Sinclair | 2 |
| 5= | Connor MacLeod | 2 |
| 5= | Graham Culbertson | 2 |
| 5= | Chris Weir | 2 |
| 11= | Peter Mauritzen | 1 |
| 11= | Lee Dickson | 1 |
| 11= | Donald Thomson | 1 |
| 11= | Ed Henderson | 1 |
| 11= | Mike Dunn | 1 |
| 11= | Ray Vaughan | 1 |
| 11= | Robbie Mott | 1 |
| 11= | Michael Ridd | 1 |
| 11= | Darren Roe | 1 |
| 11= | Chris Thomas | 1 |
| 11= | Chris Davis | 1 |
| 11= | Graham Porteous | 1 |
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