On a day where Sunnyside lived up to its name, the sun shone brightly but the rugby was even more pleasing to see.

Falkirk’s young 2nd XV are proving to be more resilient and ruthless with each game played and with more games and experience in this league, they will only continue to progress further as individuals and as a team. Straight from the warm up, it was evident that the team were focussed and concentrated as Coach Lawson put them through their drills with military precision building nicely towards the 3pm kick off.

Perhaps it was the intensity of the warm up or perhaps a lack of concentration from the kick off but Falkirk found themselves camped in their own 22 for much of the opening 10 minutes with repeated attacks from the Morgan pack but Falkirk aggressively withstood this pressure and eventually broke free and following a few quick phases, Gregor Brodie was found on the wing and with a few weak tackles from Morgan coupled with an outrageous dummy, Brodie galloped in under the posts to open the scoring. The next few tries came in quick succession from Glen Faulds, Andrew Thomson and Martin Hall which secured a bonus point after only 20 minutes.

The remainder of the first half was spent in Morgan’s half with the pack dominating up front and providing an excellent platform for the backs to display their skilled running game with further tries from Andrew Thomson, Connor Faulds, Glen Faulds and even Ross Denny getting in on the scoring action. All conversions were successful from the prolific boot of Glen Faulds.

HT:Falkirk 56 v Morgan Academy 0

At half time, Coach Lawson stressed the need to focus on structure and playing phases to continue with the momentum however, Morgan Academy must have suffered the hairdryer treatment from their coach and they started with the same intensity they started the first half, only this time, they scored a try after several phases of forceful forward play.

In previous seasons, the 2nd XV may have began to doubt themselves, even with a near 50 point cushion so Coach Lawson urged the young players to keep calm, focus on their individual roles and make the next phase count. Within a minute of the restart, Glen Faulds had dotted down for another 5 points and this was the beginning of 15 minutes of outstanding Falkirk pressure with further tries from Aiden Waters, another for Martin Hall and the loudest cheer of the day was reserved for Lewis McKay, who ran in from 30 metres to dive under the posts for his first try since returning after 10 months out with injury.

Coach Lawson then made a few changes to personnel which immediately paid off with Euan Edmond running in from his own 10 metre line although it looked like the last 40 metres of that run were a real struggle! Connor Faulds again crossed the line for 5 points before Kyle Ormond barged his way over for another try for Falkirk which brought up the 100 point mark.

With 15 minutes to go, the referee offered to call the match early but credit to Morgan’s determined players, they decided to play on and see out the 80 minutes. Morgan began to tire now that they only had 13 men on the field with 2 having gone off due to injuries sustained and Falkirk exploited this advantage with merciless efficiency. The forwards continued to batter their way up the pitch which left the backs with plenty of space out wide to run in further tries for Martin Hall, Andrew Thomson and the last play saw Ewan Rooney eventually score a try after several failed attempts.

FT: Falkirk 124 v Morgan Academy 7

Overall, a comprehensive, clinical display of attacking rugby coupled with aggressive and organised defence. The forwards were relentless in their defence, especially Duncan Scobbie, Dale Ashworth and Ross Denny, which allowed the backs to score freely with Glen Faulds, Martin Hall and Andrew Thomson all bagging a hat-trick. While the score line makes the match look incredibly one sided, it must be said that Morgan made life very difficult at times and I am confident they will pose a much tougher test on the return fixture.

Next week sees the youthful team make the very short trip to near neighbours Grangemouth where they face their 1st XV who are sure to be in contention for promotion this time round having already secured a maximum of 30 points from their opening 6 games and scoring an average of 50 points in the process.