Mixed fortunes for Ross Sutherland sides in contrasting fixtures
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ROSS Sutherland strolled to a 48-0 victory over Lochaber at the weekend to put further distance between them and the clubs struggling at the foot of the table.
Half their league points tally has come in the last two games as they find the form that eluded them in the first part of the season.
“It was vital we got the win today,” said Stags coach Alan McLean after the game. “We found ourselves dragged into a bit of a dogfight at the wrong end of the table, however the lads have responded really well and not only have we secured bonus point wins in our last two games, we’ve also prevented the opposition from scoring.”
Gerry Rosie got the try of the game, finishing off an excellent attack by the Ross forwards which showed great handling and quick passing to keep the ball alive through the phases.
Lewis Sinclair continued his fine run of form with another two tries, with brother Ewan also on the score sheet. Further tries came from Andrew Cook, Davie Ross, Mike Gordon and Gareth Braddick. Cook slotted four conversions from eight attempts.
Team captain David Gill is looking for more of the same when his side travel to Aberdeen University on Saturday. “Our focus is on getting the win this Saturday. The return fixture is in a fortnight’s time and on this form we’re capable of taking maximum points from both games.”
After this weekend’s trip to Aberdeen the Stags have a run of four home games, starting with RAF Lossiemouth (21/2) and followed by Aberdeen Uni (28/2), Aberdeenshire 2nds (7/3) and Stornoway (14/3).
• MELROSE Wasps won through to the U18 National Bowl final after a hard fought 40-0 victory over Ross Sutherland.
The game was played at the Greenyards – the home of 7-a-side rugby – in front of a large crowd and was a good experience for the Ross team who faced a side sporting several Scotland youth players.
Within minutes of the game starting it was clear that the Ross opponents were at a higher level than any previous teams they had faced but they withstood the early pressure and started to mount their own attacks as the game moved on at a frenetic pace.
Midway in the second half the Melrose team led 19-0 but things could have been closer had the Ross team not been held up over the try line, and then spurned a penalty in order to go for the try that would have brought them back in to the game.
The forward battle was evenly matched with Ross probably having a slight edge at the scrum and also showing the Borders team how to ruck; Harry Mackay and Nathan Whear in particular putting in a lot of hard graft which might have pleased Jim Telfer had he not been coaching the Melrose team.
However as they demonstrated in the first half, the Melrose backs were always a threat and a score at the start of the last quarter put the game out of sight. Despite the best efforts of the Ross Sutherland defence the home side added two late converted tries to give a flattering final score of 40-0.
Team manager Sean Sangster said: “There’s no doubt Melrose are a very good side, which is what you would expect from a team coached by the great Jim Telfer.” Adding: “These opportunities don’t come along too often for us and the boys rose to the occasion and put in a terrific performance. There were a lot of positives for us to take from the game.”
Despite the defeat, confidence is high going into this Saturday’s Caledonia Cup opener at Moray.
“If we play with the intensity and commitment that we’ve shown in the last two games I’m confident we’ll get a result on Saturday.”
Team: 15 H Pearce (Invergordon Academy), 14 A Bregazzi (Golspie High School), 13 F Kitson-Jones (Plockton High School), 12 Calum Sansgter (Invergordon Academy) (Capt.), 11 J Eaglesham, 10 F Dobson (Plockton High School), 9 C Munro (Tain Royal Academy), 8 T Bannerman (Invergordon Academy), 7 N Whear (Plockton High School), 6 J MacAskill (Plockton High School), 5 H MacKay (Golspie High School), 4 L Buchanan, 3 D Wood, 2 F Foulis, 1 D Morrison (Invergordon Academy)
Replacements: N Arnott (Plockton High School), Z Knibbs, D Murray (both Golspie High School), A Mackay, J Geddis (both Dornoch Academy), G Torrance (Tain Royal Academy)
Man of the Match: Cameron Munro
