The visitor’s kicked off playing down the considerable slope and it was Full Back Robbie Cockburn who gratefully secured a loose kick from the home side and set off on a mazy run and from the resultant ruck the ball was quickly moved to Blair Mills who split the home defence and unselfishly passed to the supporting Mike Wimbledon-Hall who strolled in under the posts for the game’s opening try after just two minutes of play. Robbie Cockburn added the conversion and the visitors led 7 – 0.

Clearly buoyed by the early score Dunbar’s forwards were driving hard, committing tacklers and Lochie Milne showed good strength and pace to set off on a mazy run only for a pass to be knocked on. The ensuing scrum allowed some respite for the home team to put Dunbar’s scrum under pressure. A good pick up allowed the home team to kick ahead but the ever-alert Dunbar backs saw the ball secured and the resultant kick saw Broughton put themselves under pressure by running out from deep and a loose pass was secured and Mike Wimbledon-Hall gratefully outpaced the home defence to score his second try out wide, A frantic start but after just seven minutes Dunbar’s lead was twelve points.

The weather forecast was for rain, but it arrived early in Wardie and the difficult handling conditions saw the heavier home forwards set up a series of driving mauls which were expertly repulsed by the dogged defending of the visitors. Again, the home backs tried to utilise the blindside but again the tackles were low and effective.

Having survived this initial onslaught Dunbar again capitalised on yet another loose pass and the forwards drove deep into Broughton’s twenty-two and a high tackle on Lochie Milne saw the resultant penalty dispatched between the posts.

Both sets of backs played high-risk rugby trying to move the wet ball after Blair Mills was replaced by Kyle Gallacher who broke clear and kicked ahead for the supporting Mike Wimbledon-Hall to just lose out on securing the ball by an excellent bit of last ditch defending by the Broughton winger.

Again, the home forwards enjoyed a spell of possession and after a series of penalties conceded by the visitors found themselves with a five-metre lineout and they were rewarded when they drove over from close range for a well-worked try. Dunbar now led 15 – 5 after the first quarter of a compelling contest.

The game restarted and yet another loose kick saw Kyle Gallacher set off on another break only for the move to finish after another knock-on. The home side again broke blind from the resultant scrum and after the grubber kick was secured by Sandy Graham his inside pass went to ground, and he was penalised for a bodycheck. This moment of madness seemed to galvanise the Dunbar team as they secured posseesion and the backs and forwards combined well to encamp themselves in the home twenty-two and their pressure was rewarded when the space was created for a grateful Ross Thomson to take the pass and romp over under the posts. Robbie Cockburn duly converted, and the score was now 22 – 5.

Next to threaten was the home team who capitalised on a loose pass to kick ahead and put the home defence under pressure, however after securing possession the resultant clearance kick did not find touch and some slick handling saw Broughton’s Fijian winger given the space to outstrip the Dunbar defence to score by the posts. The conversion was successful.

Whether it was over-confidence by the home side they duly knocked on the restart kick and Dunbar secured possession and slick passing on the blindside saw the ball moved to Sandy Graham who drove for the line smashing his way through the tackle of the last defender to score in the corner. An excellent conversion kick followed, and Dunbar had reached half-time 29 – 12 ahead with a try bonus point already secured.

Broughton Kicked off the second half with the slope advantage and with no let-up in the persistent rain were hoping for a turnaround in fortunes. The second half mirrored the srart of the game with both sides reliant on striking from deep as the kicking game concentrated on handling mistakes to gain a foothold in terms of territory. An early opportunity presented itself to the home side when a loose pass was secured by their Fijian winger now deployed in the scrum half role escaping the clutches of the visiting defence seemingly cruising in for a weel-deserved try only for him to spill the ball with the tryline within his sight.

Clearly this was a let off for the visitors and both concentration and skill levels improved with both backs and forwards launching themselves to pierce the home defence and after Robbie Cockburn was cynically raken out by a Broughton player Dunbar utilised the resulting penalty to gain significant territorial gains. A plethora of substitutions by both sides saw both teams looking to gain the edge from their impactors. An excellent grubber kick deep into Broughton’s twenty-two saw the Dunbar backs force the home winger to carry over his own tryline. The resultant five metre scrum saw the visiting forwards excel in providing a solid platform for Ewan Patrizio to pickup and bulldoze his way over for an excellent team try. The conversion attempt drifted wide, but the score was now 34 – 12 in Dunbar’s favour.

Both teams still tried to play expansive rugby in the miserable conditions but generally both team’s defence was holding out. With the home team visibly tiring it was the visitor’s superior fitness that allowed them to break on the blindside and slick passing afforded Ewan Patrizio the room to utilise his pace to outspring the covering defence and score by the posts. A successful conversion followed and shortly afterwards the referee Jake Garrod blew for full time.

Overall, an excellent team performance with forwards to a man giving their all for the cause. The backs were resolute in defence as keeping Broughton scoreless in the second half is testament to their efforts. It was three tries each to the backs and forwards in this game, but the fast start made by Dunbar laid the foundations for a well-derved win over the current champions.

Attention now turns to next Saturday when Ross High will make the short trip to Hallhill in the first of six East Lothian derbies for Dunbar in East Region League 1.