Comfortable win for Oban Lorne

Last weekend Oban welcomed Paisley Rugby Club to Glencruitten for the Green Machine’s last fixture in West Division 2 this season.

Oban were looking to finish the season on a high following the emphatic victory in last week’s game.

Oban started the game well and could not have got off to a better start when Lorne MacLachlan scored the first try after five minutes. This try was converted by Ferg McCoss, who took over the kicking duties in place of Carmichael, to put Oban 7-0 ahead.

Paisley were well organised and brought play deep into the Oban 22 but some resolute defending from the men in green kept them out.

Oban’s next try came on 10 minutes when Stanley Lister dived over the line after Calum MacLachlan had made an acrobatic offload as he broke off the tail of a driven lineout. McCoss was on target again with the conversion to extend the lead to 14 points.

Craig Wright was next to get his name on the scoreboard capping a stellar season with yet another try.

It was a fantastic season by the speedy full back, who has revelled in the space offered to him.

Next up was Calum MacLachlan who continued his try-scoring feats of the last few weeks with another trademark bullocking run.

The final score of the half came from Ferg McCoss whose footwork and speed mesmerised the opposition defence allowing him to cross in the corner to extend the Oban lead to 29 points at the end of the first half.

Calum MacLachlan scored his second try of the day five minutes into the second half when he latched onto a fantastic pass and burst through two or three attempted tackles to score another great try.

Oban made a couple of changes with Andy MacDougall replacing Lorne Sinclair, David Mclaughlin replacing Calum Murray.

Mclaughlin was to have an immediate impact on the game when he took a great line to scythe through the visitors’ defence.

Oban were rampant and the visitors were struggling to cope with the pace and power of the Oban attack.

Captain Iwan Roberts was next to score for Oban with another well taken try after some great link up play between forwards and backs. He accelerated through the gap to cap a fantastic first season as captain of the club. McCoss added the extras to extend the lead to 48-0.

Vice-captain Stephen Povey was not to be outdone and also capped a good performance with an outstanding try!.

With 30 minutes to go, Oban emptied the bench with Alex Houston replacing James Divers on the wing and a welcome return for Crawford Brown who replaced Stephen Povey.

Fergus McCoss scored another cracking try and added the conversion to extend the Oban lead to 62 points.

Calum MacLachlan was to complete his hat-trick with 10 minutes of the game to play and keep up an incredible run of form on his return from injury. Again McCoss converted to bring the score to Oban 69, Paisley 0.

With time running down Paisley threw one last concerted effort to get some points on the board, and they were rewarded with a try when, after a number of penalties, they got deep into the Oban danger zone and managed to build phase after phase before eventually crossing for a consolation try.

This was to be the final score of the game and bring the curtain down a fantastic season for Oban, a rebuilding job completed on the team and a number of young players stepping up. And with more to come, the future looks promising for the Green Machine.

After the game the players had a fancy dress themed charity night collecting donations around the town for Mary’s Meals which raised £1,000.

The coaching team now look ahead to a game against Lochaber for the Fred Riley trophy. The season will finish with an FPs match on April 27 when a team of former pupils will challenge the 1st XV.