Argyll lose out to Lanark at Glen 3
ARGYLL and Bute welcomed second-placed Lanark Rugby Football Club to Glencruitten on Saturday.
The game was played on the Glen 3 pitch, the first fixture played there this season after Oban Lorne donated sand to make the pitch safe.
The home side fielded a strong side of 19 players including 17-year- olds Daniel Speirs and Alex Houston who would make their senior rugby debuts.
Lanark had lots of possession in the opening exchanges of the match but could not break free from their own half coming up against some powerful Argyll defence. The visitors did eventually make some gain in territory and were awarded a five-metre scrum after a bizzare decision from the referee who claimed the ball had been taken out of the dead ball area by an Argyll player when, in fact, the player in question was several metres within the pitch.
With Lanark’s scrummaging power aided by the natural slope to the Glen 3 pitch, the visitors recycled possession well and eventually scored beneath the posts for an early 7- 0 lead.
Argyll refused to let this dent their confidence and stormed back into the game after securing possession from the resulting kick- off.
The hosts narrowed the lead with a well taken penalty kick from scrum half Niall MacFarlane.
Both teams were falling foul of the referee’s whistle at the breakdown with the game stopping almost every couple of phases of play for an infringement. Lanark held most of the possession in the first half as Argyll struggled to keep the ball for long enough to mount any serious attacks.
Argyll’s tiring defence was breached allowing the visitors another five-metre scrum. After being held up on one occasion, the visitors scored from their second attacking play to extend their lead to 12-3.
At half-time Argyll knew they had been competing well in most areas of the match but would need to secure more possession in the second half to get back into the game.
Argyll did improve in the last 40 minutes with good runs coming from prop Daniel Kemp, winger Alex Jobin and centre David Thurman.
Lanark increased their lead mid way into the half with an- other try and a penalty taking the score to 20-3.
Despite trailing 20-3, Argyll refused to give up and dominated the last 10 minutes of the match. Eventually Argyll scored the try their efforts deserved with Ben McNiven touching down with two minutes remaining leaving the final score 20-10 in Lanark’s favour.
Argyll were pleased with their overall performance in the game, particularly their second half showing. Much improvement is required at the breakdown and the lineouts.
Shawlands RFC welcome Argyll and Bute to Dumbreck in Glasgow this Saturday for the second meeting between the teams this season.
Argyll will be looking for revenge after a narrow home defeat to the same opposition early in the season.