HawickYM 69, Orkney 3

Orkney knocked out of National Shield by Hawick YM

Orkney travelled down to Hawick, leaving Kirkwall on the Friday night not to return until Sunday afternoon, in total over 10 hours very spent on boats and over 12 hours on a bus, all for 80 minutes of rugby.

Due to work commitments etc a changed squad travelled with the under 18’s also missing due to their own cup game against highland.  Up front the front row stayed the same, while Stewart Spence joined Rob Thomson in the second row.  Rambo returned along with Kevin Pepper to join Steven Paterson in the back row and complete the pack.  Ian Rushbrook came in at Scrum half, Al Watson at 10 while James Linklater Snr partnered Rodney Spence in the centre.  Adam Towrie (who had an extra few hours on a boat to return to Sanday) and Andrew Cromarty were on the wings while Roger Hall switched to full back.  Ivan Houston, Brian Linklater, Steven Kemp were joined for the first time be Leonard Sinclair to make up the bench.

Orkney arrived at the pitch just before midday and tried to shake of the effects of the travel before the 1pm kick off.  Straight away Orkney put pressure on the home defence and play was kept in the home 22.  However Orkney could not turn pressure into points despite a drop goal attempt going wide.  It was Hawick you opened the scoring with the first of there many break away tries.  The home back line proving to be the difference between the teams running in 3 unanswered tries to make the e half time score 19 – 0.

Playing into the slight wind in the second half was going to be difficult for Orkney although an early Hall penalty gave a bit of hope.  The combination of the fast Hawick back line assisted by there quick supporting back row gave Orkney a tough test and with the affects of the travel taking affect Orkney was on the receiving end of a 69-3 defeat and exit from the Shield competition.

There were positives to be taken from the match, the front row of Drever, Sutherland and Thomson managing at least 5 balls against the head against a heavier pack.  Man of the match was Kevin Pepper who’s fitness and commitment is a target for us all.

This weekend sees no game for the firsts, hopefully players who are fit will manage a game in the Isles challenge in Westray or in the internal East v Kirkwall which is due to be played at 12.30 on Saturday.  For those not involved it’s a chance to recover from injuries before Feb 17 away to Aberdeenshire.  With 4 league games still to play it is vital players continue to train as much as possible.  Also any first team player who is available on Saturday morning would be more than welcome to aid in the coaching in the future of the club and help out with the mini rugby at 10am at Picky.