Edinburgh ‘A’ fall short in battling display

• 4 Oct 2024
• News

Edinburgh 'A' succumbed to a narrow 33-26 loss away against Saracens Storm at Stone X Stadium.

The visitors trailed for large portions of the match, battling back from being 19-5, and then later 26-12 down to be level with the hosts, only for a late penalty try handed the Londoners the win.

Edinburgh ‘A’ went into the game with momentum behind them having toppled rivals Glasgow ‘A’ last weekend, however it was the hosts that raced out of the blocks to take the lead.

Olamide Sodeke burst through the defence to score from 30m out with a minute on the clock, with the hosts quickly doubling their lead through winger Brandon Jackson.

The visitors didn’t shy away from the task in hand despite falling foul to such a slow start, with Mikey Jones battling over to score and cut the deficit with 11 minutes on the clock. 14-5

Despite the score, Edinburgh were unable to wrestle back momentum in the match, with Jackson adding a second score after some loose passing enable to speedy winger to scurry free for extend the Sarries lead. 21-5

Edinburgh again showed their mettle, replying almost immediately to cut the hosts’ lead. Scrum-half Conor McAlpine, following a sharp performance last week, left the defence for dead with a smart dummy, before offloading to the onrushing Jerry Blyth-Lafferty to score. Cammy Scott added the first of three successful conversion to make the score 21-12.

After a frenetic five try start to the game, a period of calm took over, before the Storm burst to life once more to add control to proceedings. Kapeli Pifeleti broke free down the wing, and managing to find the onrushing Callum Braley – the Italy cap darting away for his side’s fourth try. 26-12

With their backs against the wall Edinburgh ‘A’ again came out swinging, with Blyth-Lafferty getting his second score of the game. The hooker broke through a hole in the Sarries defence, and rushed over the line to close the scoring in the first half. 26-19

The men from the Scottish capital came out for the second half with a renewed sense of confidence, piling the pressure on the men in black and red.

McAlpine came close, held up over the line, when eventually Edinburgh were rewarded for their pressure on the hour mark, with centre Kerr Yule breaking free off the back of a maul score, with Scott adding the extras to level the scores. 26-26

The hosts managed to have the final say in the game, when a driving maul was brought down illegally for a penalty try. Edinburgh put on more pressure trying to salvage a draw, however it was the Storm who managed to hold out to take the win. 33-26