Dalkeith travelled for a local derby against old foes, Penicuik RFC, for this first round BT Shield fixture. The visitors team showed eight changes from last week, with several players taking the opportunity to rest injuries and knocks.

Dalkeith began well with three dynamic phases from the kick-off before Clugston broke the home line and kicked through, but Penicuik gathered possession and cleared their lines.

The opening spells of play were impressively controlled by Dalkeith and Penicuik were soon pinned in their 22, before a tackle penalty allowed Clugston to kick for the 5m line out. Penicuik stole possession but Nethery charged the attempted clearance kick and gathered the loose ball to score, only for the referee to rule the hooker was off-side.

Dalkeith came back at the hosts though and a pin-point kick through from Smith forced Penicuik into giving up a possession in their 22 and following a Dalkeith scrum, the visitor’s forwards pummelled the home line, before the ball was spun wide, some poor handling nearly stalled the attack, but Duke cleared up loose ball and scored in the corner, Clugston’s converted well from wide, 0-7.

Walker was next to take on the home defence and the scrum half’s break made 40m before the move broke down as the Dalkeith passing game was found wanting.

The referee was taking some time to sort out the scrums and ensure that the front rows were driving square and from this source, Penicuik gained a penalty, before mauling the ball to the Dalkeith 5m line, but the visitors defence held out and repelled the attack.

Penicuik were clearly struggling to contain the visitors in open play and after stealing ball at the tackle Whitson and then Walker carried the ball into the home 22, before poor handling again gifted possession to Penicuik. Dalkeith continued to harry the hosts though and halted any attempt to get the ball to safety, before a penalty to the home side allowed them to clear their lines.

Dalkeith came back with more dynamic phases; punching holes into the defence and allowing a phased drive into the Penicuik half, a well weighted kick from Smith then had Simpson sprinting onto the ball and the winger gathered possession for the score, 0-12.

Penicuik’s cause was not helped by losing a man to the bin following a series of tackle penalties. With a man advantage, Dalkeith kept up their fast paced game and after a midfield scrum the visitors spun the ball wide,making ground, before the ball came back infield to Davidson. The No 8 drove on into the home 22, where Whitson was on hand to maintain the attack, but poor handling again looked to have halted Dalkeith’s progress, before Duke cleaned up the loose ball and burst over for the try, 0-17.

Dalkeith kept up the pressure in the final minutes of the half, but time and again promising attacks were halted by handling errors. HT

As the second half got underway, Dalkeith quickly secured possession on half way, before Mackay had a powerful burst to the home 22 and after Simpson cleaned up more loose ball, Clugston was on hand to accept the pass, before he dummied the forwards in front of him and rounded the full-back, before darting over for the score. 0-24.

Penicuik were trying to pull phases together, but to this point could not penetrate the Dalkeith defence and when losing possession the home side struggled to live with visitors pace and offloading game, with only Dalkeith’s handling issues halting what seemed like further certain scores. At this point Penicuk were lucky to still have 15 men on the field though, after their centre impeded an attempted quick penalty from Dalkeith which, in any other circumstances, is usually a straight yellow card offence, but since the player in question had already received a yellow earlier, the referee took a very lenient view of the incident and kept the red card in his pocket!

More pressure on the hosts resulted from a Penicuk defensive scrum on the 5m line and when the Dalkeith pack drove over the ball, Walker picked up from the scrum and sprinted over for another score. 0-31. Davidson was next on the scoreboard for the visitors, with the forwards punching holes in the home defence, before the No 8 drove over for the try, 0-38.

In a replay of last week, the Dalkeith defenders then seemed to then relax once the game was well won and began standing-off in defence instead of pressuring possession and Penicuik came into the game in the final 10 mins. After Dalkeith spilled possession in their half, a fairly innocuous backs move in the Dalkeith 22 suddenly had Penicuk over for a try, 38-7.

Dalkeith had openly not contested the maul at the Penicuik line-out all game and this had resulted in three penalties against the home side, however, the referee then seemed to ignore the off-side rule and allowed an uncontested drive to crash over the Dalkeith line, for the final score of a fairly uninspiring match, 12-38.