Lochaber defeat Cowal

Cowal 5

Lochaber 28

Rugby – BT West Division 3

LOCHABER secured their first victory on the road in four years on Saturday, as they romped to a 23-point win over Division 3 rivals Cowal.

The Banavie side travelled south on Saturday to Cowal, who were only four points behind Lochaber in the league, where the resounding victory secured a solid fifth place finish this season with one game remaining.

A dominant Lochaber attacking performance, aided by an exemplary display of kicking both from the tee and in open play from Scott Diack and Jonathan McCook, made it a comfortable afternoon for Lochaber in the end after an initial scare.

Cowal opened the scoring with their captain going over in the corner, leaving a tricky kick that they were unable to convert. That try seemed to galvanise Lochaber, who began to assert their influence on the game.

After some sustained pressure in Cowal’s 22, flyhalf Scottie Diack made another darting run but was stopped just short. Second row Christopher Simpson was then able to pick up the ball and force himself over the try line to score. Jonathan McCook converted to give Lochaber the lead.

Lochaber regularly had space out wide with Cowal defending narrowly and John Jones was able to take full advantage of the space to race in to score Lochaber’s second try with McCook converting to stretch their lead to 5-14.

The visitors’ third try came after Diack kicking a loose ball forward and showed off his footballing skills by getting a few more touches to hack the ball over the try line where second row James Lucas, who was up in support, was able to dive on the ball to score. McCook again converted for the extra two points.

The bonus point was secured when Simpson got his second try of the game after brushing off a last-ditch tackle to break over the line and score, with McCook converting again to make it four from four.

Lochaber’s final game of the season is away to bottom-placed Moffat on Saturday May 12.