Oban ladies celebrate big end-of-season win
Tennent’s West Region League Bishopton Ladies 0 Oban Lorne Ladies 68
Oban Ladies went into their last game of the league upbeat with captain K Sinclair back at the helm and vice captain S Kelpie alongside.
Playing in a well-structured fashion, the Oban ladies received the ball well and retained possession of it for much of the match.
Some switched-on thinking between scrum-half R Macdonald and fly-half L Stewart saw many phases of play carried out successfully, allowing for Stewart to quickly nip across the line for the first try of the game in the fifth minute which she converted herself.
The ladies kept possession from the receiving kick resulting in K Sinclair and G Mitchell tearing down the opposition’s line. Some perfectly co-ordinated passing allowed Mitchell to score the next try in her new position as outside-centre.
The Oban side kept up this pace allowing another two tries from winger L Telfer and back-row K Roche.
The Bishopton defence did not make it easy, however, and continuously put the pressure on, leading to several scrums with both sides being evenly matched.
Oban’s next try came from a turnover which led to debutante P McKillop using fancy footwork and her incredible pace to score her first try for Oban which was converted by R Macdonald.
The Oban ladies solidified their first half performance with another try from K Roche.
The same intensity was evident in the second half. Bishopton gained possession from the kick-off but the Oban forwards put in some serious tackles to counteract the attack and win back possession. V Speirs sent the ball out to the backs where G Mitchell was able to score her second try, converted by R MacDonald.
Tries followed from L. Stewart, 2; P McKillop; S Keppie and E Crompton, with one conversion from K Roche.
West Region League Division 2 Oban Lorne 55 Helensburgh 3
Helensburgh made the short trip to Glencruitten for this Argyll and Bute derby match.
Oban came into the game off the back of two cancelled games owing to Covid and a disappointing loss away to league leaders Cumnock the previous weekend. Helensburgh had also had a string of defeats and cancelled games so both teams were keen to play some rugby.
Both teams named strong squads of 22 and the opening 10 minutes were a closefought, cagey affair with
Callum Hamilton opening the scoring with a penalty to Oban and Helensburgh quickly responding with three points.
The tone for the rest of the match was set when Oban’s hulking number 8 Jamie Bate barrelled over from a lineout maul to make it 10-3. Two short range tries followed from prop Connor Ferris, before Bate added another score after a powerful trademark run from half way.
Not to be outdone by his cousin, fullback flyer Craig Wright scored a quick fire hat-trick to bring the score to 48-3 before young centre Blair
MacFarlane scored a fine solo try to finish the game with a flourish.
This weekend, Oban play away sixth-placed Paisley and will be hoping to build on their strong performance.
West Youth Under 16 Cup Oban Lorne 63
Loch Lomond 24
Oban Lorne Under 16s kicked off their cup campaign on Sunday when they hosted Loch Lomond at Glencruitten.
The hosts started strongly with inside centre Murray MacDonald having a storming run up the middle of the pitch before being brought down, but the Oban side were round him quickly and the ball was quickly distributed to centre partner Thomas Jackson who finished under the posts for his first try of the day.
Loch Lomond worked their big pack into the game, gaining more and more territory, with Oban eventually conceding the score to bring it back all square.
Both teams were trading big hits and using their big runners to their advantage, trying to keep themselves in the game until Jackson intercepted a Lomond ball and ran through