Harris Academy 1st XV.................7
Alloa RFC 1st XV.........................59


ALLOA RFC’s already delayed return to BT Caledonia League Division 1 was further hindered at the weekend when major roadworks at Perth caused the kick-off to be delayed for 45 minutes to allow the visiting side extra time to complete their pre-match preparations.
This unexpected disruption could have caused the visitors to lose a bit of concentration, but any worries were quickly dispelled as Alloa immediately went on the front foot right from kick-off.
The forwards made the hard yards with some powerful running and offloads, and it wasn’t long before Ross Murray picked up from the base of a ruck and barged his way over the try line for 7-0 lead after only five minutes of play.
Once again, the Harris defence was under immediate pressure when Alloa powered their way into the home side’s 22-metre area straight from the restart and the already overworked defence were struggling to cope at the breakdown area, conceding a series of penalties.
Skipper for the day, Martin MacKenzie decided to keep the pressure on by electing to kick these penalties for touch and from one such lineout, Ali Edwards was on hand at the back of a driving maul to double the lead after 12 minutes.
The visitors continued to pile the pressure on the Dundee side’s defence and they were struggling to contain the Alloa attacks.
Eventually the referee’s patience was stretched too far when he yellow-carded two Harris players in quick succession for illegally killing the ball at the breakdown.
Due to injuries, Rab Truesdale was given the nod in an unfamiliar back row position and he didn’t disappoint as it was he who scored the third try when he forced his way over the line from short distance shortly before the break.
The half-time score of 19-0 quickly became 26-0 when Ali Edwards once again powered over from a lineout driving maul.
Ed Waller kept the scoreboard ticking along soon after when he was on hand to receive the final pass from an excellent handling move which involved both forwards and backs.
The visitors were by now in full flow and some of the offloading and support play was a pleasure to watch. Matt Pope soon finished off another superb handling move for try number six.
It is fair to say that the normally strong Harris side put in a below-par performance but to their credit, they rallied and deservedly scored a try of their own.
However, normal service was resumed when Pope doubled his tally before Lee Cairney, who also kicked seven conversions, scored out wide.
Philip Edwards was keen that his brother, Ali, didn’t claim all of the scoring headlines and he capped a fine performance at stand off with a late burst through a tiring home defence to complete a satisfying opening day victory.
Alloa will be looking to build on this performance in the first home match of the league campaign this Saturday when Mackie Academy visit Earlsfield – 3pm kick-off.