Leith 22

Gala YM 25

Joe Dickson

at Academy Park

GALA YM's winning streak continued at Academy Park on Saturday when they took the scalp of East Division 2 league leaders Leith for a fourth consecutive victory.

YM took the game by the scruff of the neck from the kick off and from then on they dominated for the next 60 minutes.

They also defended well when the hosts struck back to close the gap in the last quarter.

YM took the lead after eight minutes when Struan Mitchell kicked a penalty.

They increased their lead with a spectacular try - a long spell of pressure inside the Leith 22 saw the ball spread wide and a brilliant pass behind his back from Iain Ross sent John Frew speeding over for the opening try converted by Struan Mitchell.

Gala were turning the screws on the Leith defence and it paid dividends when Adrian Donoghue crashed over for the second try on the half hour and Struan Mitchell added the extras.

Leith got themselves on the scoreboard with a penalty goal.

YM lost Ben Reid with an ankle injury and Finlay Rutherford took his place.

Just before the break Leith missed an easy penalty attempt.

Four minutes into the second half, YM got a third try from good move by the backs and John Frew wriggled out of several tackles to stretch over the line.

The conversion was wide but YM were 19 points in front.

Leith had a quick riposte when they forced over from a five metre scrum for a converted try.

Struan Mitchell made up for his missed conversion when he kicked his second penalty goal.

An interception saw Leith close the gap with an unconverted try.

Leith’s tails were up and they battled away and eventually battered their way over for a third try.

The conversion was good and there was only three points in it entering the closing stages.

The last five minutes saw the YM defence in top form and Leith could not break through.

YM got the four winning points pushing them up to fifth in the table.

John Frew got man of the match for YM.

This week they are at home to Earlston.