With both Dalkeith and today's opponents' first league matches unplayed, we welcomed Lasswade to King's Park for our opening Aspire League match.

The conditions were perfect for running rugby, and that's exactly what Dalkeith delivered.
From pretty much the first minute Dalkeith tried to move the ball around the pitch and open the game up, and it paid off from the start with an early score.

After quick recycled ball and good hands, Dalkeiths #9, Amy MacNamara set off on one of her trademark runs and was over for the first try of the match with only a minute played.

Dalkeith were off and running, and certainly didn't stop there. There was some excellent attacking rugby on show, direct running, great support and outstanding offloads from all Dalkeith players allowed winger Claire Brunton to sprint in down the right wing to score and then again, offloads and direct running from Dalkeith put centre McIntosh to get another try. 15-0

There was a danger that the game could get away from Lasswade, however to their credit they managed to regroup and get some possession of their own, helped along with a number of cheap penalties from Dalkeith, getting them in to our 22. They used their big pack to good use and, with sustained phases, eventually drove over the Dalkeith line. 15-5.
It would be the last of the scoring for Lasswade on the day.

Rather than go in to our shells, the Dalkeith Ladies went straight on the offensive from their kick off, with a good chase and some fantastic tackling Dalkeith forced a turnover and raced over for an instant reply on the scoreboard. 20-5.

The defensive effort was the key to the rest of the game, some brilliant tackling kept Lasswade on the back foot and relentless pressure on their attacking line gave Dalkeith a lot of ball, which they used to get another score before half time.

25-5 half-time score.

The second half started as the first, Dalkeith took control of the kick off, and MacNamara took off and wove her way through the Lasswade defence and raced down the wing to score. 30-5.

The game became a bit unstructured with a yellow card issued to Dalkeiths #10, Lynsay Halliday, for not rolling away, which I'm sure the players will agree was harsh (mainly because they don't want bronco's on Wednesday!!)

But the Dalkeith Women adjusted well and again defended so well, big hits and strong work at the breakdown kept Lasswade at bay.

Everyone was playing their part, but special mention to Roche and Cameron for some great hits that helped snuff out any threat.

An injury to a Lasswade player and with no replacements left, Dalkeith had to drop a player to match numbers.

At this point with 20 minutes to go, Dalkeith made some changes, Hayhurst into the centre and the backline shuffled around to accommodate, as Brunton came off, on the back of a player of the match performance.

Robertson and Williamson went into the front row for Dunbar and Turner, who had worked tirelessly all day.

The replacements carried on where their teammates left off and were aggressive and strong in defence and used the ball well in attack.

The final score of the game came through some absolutely outstanding support play and handling, keeping the ball alive really well and another run-in for MacNamara.

Final score: 37-5.

A fantastic performance from everyone in a Dalkeith shirt, backing each other up and some determined defending throughout the match. But by far the most impressive point for Dalkeith was the way they used the ball, getting it into space and pressing the attack.
Thoroughly deserved win and an all-around great performance.

Up next is an Aspire festival at Dalkeith, 20th October, with a number of teams taking part in a round robin competition.