Ross-Sutherland 45 - Carnoustie 0
ROSS-SUTHERLAND progressed to the semifinals of the Caledonia Regional Bowl competition with a thumping 45-0 victory, keeping their second clean sheet in a row in the process.
Ross started the match with the wind in their faces, however that did not deter the home side, who looked bright from the off.
The forwards have been securing the rucks well the past couple of weeks and this proved to be vital in this match.
The Ross pack opted to keep the ball in hand and run at the opponents, making good ground in the process.
Stu Mack, returning, found space around the fringes to break the Carnoustie defence and go in for the first try of the match. He converted the try to make the score 7-0.
Ross again began to dominate up front and it was the turn of young winger Ben Parkes to go in for a try after some hard running. Again the try was converted as Ross moved into a quick 14-0 lead.
Carnoustie began to buck up their ideas and get their hand on the ball, but the Ross defence was more than up to the task with big hits coming in from the centre partnership of Danahar and Thomas.
The Stags went in for another try, just before the end of the half, again scored by Ben Parkes, who had a roaring afternoon on the wing. Again he danced through some tackles on the wing and showed blistering pace to go in for a try in the corner. Mack failed to convert as Ross went in 19-0 at half time.
The second half began with a punch-up, which resulted in yellow cards for both sides and 10 minutes in the sin bin. This took the steam out of the first 10 minutes of the half, but as both players returned so did pace of the match.
Stu Mack, who has made a big impact since his return from injury, went through for his second of the match. This was followed by a sensational try from back-rower Ken Mackenzie, who handed off two Carnoustie opponents and showed some pace to go in for a try as Ross moved into a 31-0 lead.
Ross looked dangerous with the ball in hand and it was not long until try machine Mike Gordon went through to score, the flying winger showing his customary pace to finish under the posts. Again this was converted by Mack - who was kicking well in the poor conditions - making the score 38-0 to the home side.
Ben Parkes rounded off a man-of-the-match performance with his hat-trick as the match came to a close, again converted by Mack to leave the match at 45-0 to Ross-Sutherland.
Speaking after the match coach Rob Parkes said, "The boys came out the blocks quick and kept up the tempo throughout the match. I was impressed with our control at the break-down and ball retention. It is always difficult in the wind, but we kept the ball in hand and were dangerous in possession. In defence we looked organised and composed, with the whole team putting in a performance, the clean sheet was just reward for their efforts."
Ross-Sutherland are away to Banff tomorrow (Saturday) in the league as they look to maintain their winning run going into the Christmas period.
