ROSS Sutherland and RAF Lossiemouth served up a whirlwind of a match in extreme blustery conditions.
This was an important match for the Stags who needed to win to keep their slim title aspirations alive, but it was never going to be easy against a strong Lossie side which had beaten them on two previous occasions this season already – in league and cup respectively.
The match got under way with Ross pushing from the off. The away side elected to take advantage of the wind in the first half to try and mount up a score. But it was the home side that scored first with their young outside centre slotting home a difficult kick from just outside the Ross 22.
The Stags got straight back into the match when veteran centre, Iain Thompson, started off a superb performance in midfield with a try to pull the score back to 3-5 and put Ross into the lead.
Ross continued to push forward with some big carries from the second row partnership of Scott Fraser and Ally Ansbro. Making some big yards and sucking in the Lossie defence, the ball was then spread wide from winger Mike Gordon to pass his opposite man to go in for a try. This was converted by Johnny Mann to put Ross into a 3-12 lead.
The half continued with Ross looking strong in defence and suppressing Lossie to playing rugby in their own half. Another series of pick and goes were working well for the Stags. Thompson again broke the line after a superb dummy pass left his opposite man on his backside. He then side-stepped and off-loaded to the flying winger Mike Gordon who powered through to go in under the posts. Johnny Mann slotted the conversion to make the score 3-19 to the away side as the ref blew for half time.
The second half got under way with Ross continuing to pressure despite having the wind in their faces. They were able to keep hold of possession and capitalised with a try from big Scott Fraser, who was having an excellent game – making the score 3-24 and apparently out of sight.
However, RAF Lossiemouth were not to be outdone and started to come back into the match, beginning with a try from their stand-off, who powered through some slack defending to go in under the posts. This was then converted to bring the score back to 10-24, and was quickly followed by another try from a Lossie flanker as Ross heads looked to be sinking. This was again converted to pull the score back to 17-24.
A third try was added in a barren spell for Ross as the game was drawn level at 24-24 after the try was converted. Ross looked in danger of letting this one slip.
The game settled for a spell but it was the home side that looked the most likely to score and they did after a mistake in midfield allowed the RAF flanker to kick through and touch down to move Lossie into a 29-24 lead, a superb comeback. The conversion was missed.
Alan Maclean came on to add some experience to the front row and made a big impact at the break-down, clearing rucks all over the field as Ross went on the push. The other forwards responded by winning good clean balls and setting good field position on the park. Ross hooker Murray Kennedy then managed to pick up from the back of a ruck and power over from five metres out, showing great strength to bring score level at 29-29. With five minutes remaining on the clock, Ross were running out of time if they were going to win this match. Again they achieved good field position, pushing the home side back. But Lossie were holding out.
Some more big runs from Fraser and Kennedy pushed them closer and closer to the Lossie line. As the seconds ticked away, Gordon picked up and passed to the isolated Mellis on the wing. However, showing great initiative, he looped around the winger, Mellis then passed to Gordon who then passed three players to go in to the corner for a try, making the score 29-34. Mann missed the conversion but it did not matter as Ross Sutherland had done enough – a superb match in horrible conditions.
Speaking after the match, coach Rob Parkes said, "I am just overjoyed to get that win. We've been on the wrong end of few of them ourselves this season and it looked to be over. But we stayed strong and believed till the end. We've shown incredible spirit to come back and I am just delighted with the result."
