Ross Sutherland 39 Lochaber 11
ROSS Sutherland got the new season off to a flier with a strong performance at home to Lochaber RFC. However it was not plain sailing for the stags at the Naval Ground.
The first half was a tentative affair with Lochaber the more dominating of the two. It was not long before dominance turned into points, with the Lochaber stand-off slotting a penalty to go into a 3-0 lead. Ross-Sutherland's new-look side looked nervous in possession.
A more composed Ross emerged as the half went on and it was not long before Ruaridh Waugh powered through to score between the posts, David Kennedy failed with conversion to keep the score at 5-3.
Ruaridh Danahar, playing out of position at fly half, got on the score sheet putting Ross into a 10-3 lead, with the conversion again being missed. The lead was cut short, as Lochaber began to gather momentum with penalties coming thick and fast, the lead was soon reduced to 10-6.
New coach Rob Parkes has been targeting an improvement in defence as part of pre-season training, and it showed, with the stags putting in some big hits and soaking up waves of Lochaber attack. Lochaber failed to take advantage as the first half came to a close. The second half started with a bang, as Kerr Smith finished a succession of quick rugs with an excellent try. This was quickly followed with a try by Gordon, who again showed fantastic pace to score from within his own half. Both conversions were missed as the score moved to 20-6. Waugh went over for his second of the afternoon to increase the lead to 25-6.
The stags were getting some great service from scrums and line outs as the young side showed maturity and poise. This gave them the platform to score another try as Gordon again showed blistering pace to score between the posts. Mackenzie took over kicking duties making the score 32-6. The stags began to look comfortable, dominating the break-down area.
Lochaber showed some grit to score their first and only try of the afternoon to cut the lead to 32-11. Rosie, came and made an immediate impact, scoring a well worked try, which was converted. The match finished at 39-11 to Ross Sutherland, with confident and assured performance from this young Ross side.
Coach Rob Parkes was pleased with his team's performance. He said, "It was a great way to get the season started, and although we were missing some important players through work commitments and injury we put in a good performance which bodes well for the rest of the season. However, we are far from the finished article and there are certain areas that we will need to work on in training this week."
Ross Sutherland are at home to Aberdeen-shire 2nds this Saturday, Kick-off is at 3pm.
