Green Machine lose to league leaders

OBAN Lorne took on league leaders Carrick RFC at Glencruitten on Saturday with the Green Machine looking to make amends for the 87-18 loss suffered away to the same side only a couple of weeks ago.

Confidence in the Oban team has been buoyed following last weekend’s thumping 64-15 win over already-relegated Helensburgh RFC. Some key matches are coming up that are must wins for Oban, given the lowly league position the club currently occupy.

Oban made a good start to the game and failed to take the lead with Craig Wright missing a tricky early penalty attempt. Carrick made Oban pay for their missed opportunity as they took a 7-0 lead with a try after only five minutes.

Despite being behind, Oban were playing very well and were totally dominating and dismantling a weak Carrick scrum. Both sides were becoming frustrated at some very inconsistent refereeing that would become a general feature of the game.

Carrick extended their lead mid way through the half to 12-0 with their second try of the day. Oban, though, dominated the remainder of the first 40 and found themselves camped on the visitors’ tryline. The much needed try never arrived as Carrick managed to clear their lines after an Oban knock-on.

The league leaders extended their lead with further tries in the second half to race into a 29-0 lead. This was possibly not reflective of the efforts that Oban had put in throughout out the game.

Prop Tommy Sutherland had been denied a certain try midway through the half with the referee being ill positioned to view the touchdown.

The team also had to play late on with 14 men with centre Graham MacEachan’s sin-binning. MacEachan managed to make amends on his return as he intercepted a sloppy Carrick pass to offload to Oban captain Craig Wright, who scored a late consolation for the men in Green. Carrick added a further late score to run out in the end comfortable 34-5 winners.

Saturday’s spirited loss means that Oban Lorne still remain in the relegation zone, five points adrift of 10th place Irvine, who entertain Oban Lorne this Saturday.

This is a must win game for Oban if they have any ambitions of reaming a Division 1 side next season. Saturday’s game in Irvine kicks off at 3pm.