Second half Hyndland comeback denies Lochaber win on the road
Hyndland Lochaber
BT West Division 3 34 30
A RESURGENT Hyndland side snatched a late victory against Lochaber after a hardfought, high-scoring encounter in Glasgow on Saturday.
Lochaber squandered a 16-point lead at half-time thanks to a rousing second half performance from Hyndland, which saw them the score three tries, leaving the visitors with just two bonus points to take back to Banavie.
Lochaber edged the previous meeting between this two sides in a tight 20 - 14 encounter and were expecting another hardfought match.
It was Lochaber who started brightest with Jonathan McCook kicking a penalty to open the scoring. Lochaber thought they had got their first try of the afternoon when some quick hands put winger Peter Carmichael free but the Hyndland scrum half made the tackle and held the ball up over the try line. From the resulting scrum, however, Christopher Simpson was able to get over the line for his first try of the game.
Lochaber continued to dominate early on and when Hyndland did attack, the defence held strong. Lochaber’s backs were finding all sorts of space through the mid-field with Jonathan McCook and Callum Boyd both breaking tackles in the middle of the park to score under the posts.
Fortunately for Lochaber, McCook had packed his kicking boots as he slotted home a 45-metre penalty with relative ease to further extend the visitors’ lead.
Hyndland did come back into the game and their hard work was awarded with their first try of the game, giving them some confidence before the half-time break with the scores at 23-7.
Polar opposite
The second half turned out to be a polar opposite of the first half with Hyndland coming out the stronger side and managed to do everything which Lochaber had been doing well in the first half.
The Glasgow side scored two more tries to slash Lochaber’s lead and really put pressure on the visitors. Lochaber did respond with Simpson scoring his second try, and Lochaber’s fourth, to ensure a bonus point.
But a pivotal moment in the match came late on when Lochaber were reduced to 14 men after James Lucas was yellow carded for repeated penalties inside the 22. Hyndland took advantage of the extra man and, with less than five minutes left, they stretched the Lochaber defence and scored out wide to take the lead for the first time with a slender one point advantage.
Lochaber were able to win the ball back from the restart but immediately gave away a penalty just inside their own half, which Hyndland’s duly converted.
The game restarted with 90 seconds still on the clock and after some Lochaber pressure, Hyndland were able to secure the ball close to their own try line.
With time up it seemed like Hyndland would simply kick the ball out but they passed it to a forward on their own line.
Lochaber prop William fly half Stewart tackled him back into his own try area but was unable to rip the ball and score a late try.
Instead, Hyndland were able to hold the ball up and the resulting scrum meant the end of the game, with Hyndland edging the result.
The battling performance from Lochaber didn’t leave them empty handed, however, as their free-scoring attacking play and dogged defence earned them two bonus points which could prove important as the season draws to an end. With only a few games remaining, Lochaber are chasing Shawlands in fourth place while Cowal sit just below them in fifth.
Lochaber’s next game home to Bishoptown on
14; 3pm kick off. is at April