Narrow defeat for Lorne under-16s
OBAN Lorne U16s welcomed a combined Strathaven and Dalziel side to Glencruitten on Sunday in the last 16 of the West Regional Cup.
The home side fielded a strong squad of 19 players, welcoming back some key members of the squad from injury.
It was Oban who opened the scoring within the first minute off the game. A misplaced pass from the kick off was hacked through by centre David Cameron who managed to touch down over the line. A successful conversion from Angus Neil increased the score to 7- 0.
The away side were using their size advantage to dominate going forward and were gifted some good field position by an Oban team who had gone a couple of weeks without training due to school holidays.
Two tries from the visitors gave them a 12-7 lead going into the second half, while Oban responded with a penalty kick to reduce the score to two points.
As Oban were looking to score and go ahead in the game, the visitors broke clear and scored their third try of the day, taking the score to 17-10.
Oban pushed hard to level the game and were held up over the tryline on a couple of occasions. With five minutes remaining Oban gave themselves some hope by scoring one of the best tries witnessed at Glencruitten this season. A break into the 22 and a fantastic overhead pass from Archie Spencer found Connor Taylor, who managed to put in winger Robert McLaughlin to score in the corner.
A narrowly missed conversions meant that Oban trailed by two points going into the closing stages of the game.
Despite a late rally, Oban were denied in the end and were edged out by a well drilled and physical Strathaven/ Dalziel side.
Oban drop into the quarterfinal of the shield competition, where they travel to face Cartha Queens Park RFC this Sunday.