Captain McCook leads Lochaber to 10-try victory
Lochaber captain Jonathan McCook scored a hat-trick of tries on Saturday as his team brushed aside lowlanders Moffat in a thrilling match at Banavie.
The home side were looking to bounce back after defeats in their previous two games and were confident in doing so having won all three previous encounters with Moffat.
Captain Jonathan McCook took the lead for Lochaber after he spotted that Moffat had left the blindside undefended and was able to run in a try in the corner, which was unconverted. The lead lasted for just three minutes when Moffat made the most of a Lochaber mistake to turn the ball over and run in for a try to take the lead 5-7. Lochaber were next to get on the scoreboard after some great hands and running from the backs saw McCook run in for his second try with 22 minutes gone to make it 10-7.
Error
Almost straight after the restart Lochaber made another error where a pass didn’t go to hand and Moffat were first to react to kick the ball through before regathering to score and take the lead again at 10-14.
However, yet another mistake, this time a dropped ball from Moffat, allowed Christopher Simpson to kick the ball on and put it right in the path of McCook to gather and score his hattrick making it 15-14 with 10 minutes to go in the first half. Lochaber soon got their fourth try after a darting run from fly-half Matt Murray saw him squeeze through to place the ball on the line as he was tackled. Murray converted his own try to make it 22-14 at half-time.
Lochaber wasted no time in getting their fifth try just a minute into the second half. After turning the ball over, the home side passed the ball out to Simpson who was able to run right through Moffat’s defence to score with McCook converting to make it 29-14. Soon after, Lochaber got the ball out to Brian Knowles who, making a return to the team, was able to run the ball in, with McCook remaining steady with the boot to make it 36-14.
Moffat weren’t finished, however, and from the kickoff were able to make their way into Lochaber’s 22, with their much bigger forward pack carrying the ball up to the line. Lochaber’s defence held strong for about five minutes before Moffat eventually got the ball to their big number eight who used his size advantage to get over the line to make it 36-21.
That jolted the home side back into action and just three minutes later Simpson was over again with defenders not even trying to tackle him he easily ran in his second try. McCook converted to make it 43-21. Three minutes later, it was Murray running through Moffat’s defence to get his second try and Lochaber’s eighth, with McCook converting again to make it 50-21.
Scenario
Moffat were able to regather the ball from the kick-off and it was much the same scenario as last time with their forwards battering the ball up against Lochaber’s defence to make it 50-28, ensuring they got a bonus point.
Angus Jenkins got Lochaber’s ninth try after brushing aside a tackle to run the ball in and followed it up with his second and his side’s tenth just five minutes later. McCook converted both tries to bring the final score to 64-28.
The win keeps Lochaber third in the table after nine games. They travel away to Mull this Saturday where they will be looking to get their first win over on the island.