Ross High fall just short despite determined display
Ross High 27 Strathmore 31
ROSS High welcomed third placed Strathmore for a double-header match sanctioned due to the specific circumstances that have led to the backlog of fixtures for the two clubs in National League Division Four.
Commencing in difficult conditions, the visitors immediately broke the home defence with an offload that sent them in for the opening try under the posts. The score was converted and gave Strathmore a 7-0 lead.
With slope advantage, the visitors exerted steady pressure that paid off once more when the home defence failed to deal with untidy scrum possession near to their try line and conceded an easy touchdown for Strathmore’s second try and a 14-0 lead midway through the first half.
Just as it seemed that Ross High were facing a long afternoon, they finally took the game to the visitors.
A drive from Blair Patterson created field position from where stand-off Murray Jack chipped and gathered his own kick to score a fine try in the muddiest area of the field.
A further period of Ross High pressure saw Nick Tinlin charge over from short range and bring the score back to 14-12 in favour of Strathmore.
With half-time approaching,
Strathmore mounted one more attack that led to their third try, too far out for the conversion but giving them a 19-12 lead at the break.
Hopes of a home turnaround were raised shortly after the restart when Josh Jack wriggled through a cluster of defenders to score a third try for Ross High. The gap was narrowed to 19-17 and there was all to play for.
A penalty award gave Ross High a kick to take a lead that seemed unlikely earlier on, but the attempt against the crosswind was unsuccessful.
Strathmore took encouragement from this and steadily began to dominate territory and possession.
A succession of penalties led to Ross High losing a player to a yellow card and, in a short space of time, they conceded two tries to the visitors, with one converted, to stretch the lead to 31-17.
Once more the home side fought back and, from the restart, created pressure that saw winger Seoras Lewis score in the corner.
Ross High kept up the pressure, finishing the match strongly when Lewis was again sent in unopposed at the corner, bringing the scoring to a close at 31-27 in favour of the visitors.
This was another determined performance from Ross High against a team that had recently given league winners Garnock their only defeat.
Although relegation is unavoidable, they will be looking for a pos- itive result on Saturday in their final home fixture, against Murrayfield Wanderers.