Let the Games begin
Oban Lorne Ladies face an uphill battle in their National Plate campaign having had three of their four pool matches postponed as a result of bad weather.
Since being beaten by group leaders West of Scotland on February 2, the Green Army have been thwarted by storms and are finding it hard to get back on track. On Sunday, Kelso are due to come calling at Glencruitten but that still leaves two games to play with the quarter-finals scheduled to be played on Sunday March 22.
The ladies have the added problem of playing on an international weekend with players already committed to going to Murrayfield to watch the Scotland v France match.
Team spokesperson Lucy Stewart said: ‘This Sunday is the first of the three rescheduled matches which is frustratingly on the same day as Scotland vs France. Key players already have tickets to that so will unfortunately miss our fixture.’
The girls are due to travel to Kirkcaldy next Sunday, March 15, but are unsure when they will get their home fixture against Annan played as the Sunday after is supposed to be the quarter finals.
Gill Vollum and Heather Fothergill are currently out of action but hope to be back on the pitch soon.
Oban High School pupils launched themselves into Games Week with four after school clubs taking part in this years Bulls v Sharks show down.
Now in its eighth year, the competition, for S1 and S2 players, started off as a rugby contest but now includes football, shinty and, new to the mix this year, netball.
‘It all started when we were struggling to find competitive games for our younger players,’ explained Murray Hamilton, head of physical education at Oban High School.
‘We had a large number of players and we needed to get them competitive games so we made a draw of two teams, Bulls and Sharks, and allocated senior players to be coaches and lead the teams.
‘This added another dimension to it which the younger players all bought in to.’
Over the year, games are played across each sport with each match played at the same time as its respective club so all students can attend.
‘We have had senior students referee matches this year which is great as it builds their leadership skills,’ added Mr Hamilton.
Sports
‘We have had three players taking part in all three sports – shinty, football and rugby – this year, which was great.
‘This is something we encourage as we would like to have all-round players or athletes.
‘Every sport can have transferable skills.’
The teams play for trophies. Mr Hamilton found the rugby trophy, an old ‘Heritage’ cup, in the old high school while the football, shinty and netball silverware was donated by Tom Brown from Telefonica UK (O2).
Games Week kicked off on Monday last week with the football where an exciting match was won 6-3 by the Bulls. Captains Josh Lane and Preston MacIntyre led their teams well, with the game played in good spirits. Referee Gary McIvor had a good game.
Tuesday’s shinty match started on an even keel before the Bulls made a charge to run out 8-2 winners.
Well-attended
The shinty club coaches have made a big difference, with Tuesday training sessions being well-attended by boys and girls.
‘There are two shinty ambassadors in the school who
push and promote the sport and with the new School of Shinty launched this year, shinty development is on the up at Oban High School,’ said Mr Hamilton.
The original Bulls v Sharks fixture for rugby took place on Wednesday. The rivalry has really built up between the players and it was the Sharks who won this closefought affair. A number of these players are part of the School of Rugby programme and have fixtures coming up. Thom Catterwell refereed his first match and controlled things well.
Rugby is strong in Oban High School with players continuing to develop.
In the netball, Katy MacDonald captained the Bulls and Aisling Duncan captained the Sharks in the first netball match. It was a great game with both teams exchanging goals until the final whistle.
Miss Potts and Miss Donald were impressed with the effort and attitude of all the players.
The Bulls won the game in the final minute with a goal from captain and player of the match Katy MacDonald.