A hard-fought, bruising encounter against a physical Crieff and Strathearn team came down to one kick, and unfortunately for the home side, South African centre Tian Aucamp made no mistake with a difficult penalty which gave his side the narrowest of victories.
Pretty, this game was not, but as Orkney clawed their way back from a 10-0 half time deficit, it made for an enthralling spectacle.
The raw breeze blowing straight down the pitch dictated the pattern of the game.
From the start, it was clear that both sides were having difficulty handling the ball, and the game was littered with knock-ons and dropped passes.
The visitors had set off from home at midnight and driven through the small hours to get to Gills Bay for the morning sailing, but showed no signs of any effects of the journey.

Playing with the wind, they were content to keep the ball in the pack, and the early minutes saw several scrums.
It was from one such scrum, at which Orkney had the put-in, that Cieff took the lead, Aucamp intercepting a pass from the fit again Roger Hall to sprint the length of the pitch to score unopposed under the posts.
He made no mistake with the conversion, and after seven minutes it was 7-0 to the visitors.

For much of the first half, Orkney were forced onto the back foot, the game being played in their half for long periods, but the host’s defence held tight.
Crieff had the chance of extending their lead shortly after their front row forward Craig Gordon had hobbled off with what looked like and ankle injury.
They were awarded a penalty for an Orkney infringement at the scrum, but rather than take the three points on offer, chose a quick tap, and were left ruing the decision when they knocked on.

With Crieff pressuring, Al Watson, restored to his more familiar stand-off role after covering for Hall during the scrum half’s absence, was sure footed in defence, kicking well into the breeze on a number of occasions to clear the danger.
Mid-way through the first half, Orkney produced their best bit of play down the right. When play broke down they were awarded a penalty, with the Crieff players slow to roll out of the way, and Hall to a quick tap, only to be stopped by a nasty looking ‘clothesline’ tackle.
The resulting penalty took Orkney on a rare excursion into Crieff territory, and Andrew Cromarty, starting in the centre, came within a yard of scoring, only to be held up just short.

The chance came after the visitors were penalised for not putting the ball in straight at a scrum. Hall again took a quick tap, feeding skipper Glen McLellan, who broke a couple of challenges before setting up Cromarty.
However, Crieff managed to turn the ball over and clear from within their own in-goal area.

Next, it was Crieff’s turn to come close.
Turning over the ball from a ruck, it was kicked long and chased well by another of Crieff’s trio of South Africans, winger Larry Gobler, and it took a good covering effort from the Orkney defence to keep the visitors at bay.
With half time beckoning, Orkney conceded a penalty just inside their own half.
Aucamp had no hesitation in having a pop, and the ball sailed straight between the posts.

The question during the interval was how much effect the windy was having, and could Orkney use the conditions to their advantage during the second half.
These were answered straight away, as Orkney’s first play after the restart earned them a penalty  just to the left of the posts on the 22-yard line.
James Linklater made no mistake with the kick and Orkney were right back in the game.

Rodney Spence came off the bench to replace a groggy McLellan, who had been felled in a challenge, and he made an immediate impact, kicking through to give Orkney good position and the put in at a scrum inside the Crieff 22.
Crieff were again penalised for not putting the ball in correctly, and Linklater added another three points.

Orkney reduced the arrears further after 53 minutes, when Grant Frogley was yellow-carded, referee Bryan Arciero finally losing patience after warning players on both sides of persistent infringements.
Frogley had once again failed to stay on his feet, and that was enough to earn him ten minutes on the side line.
Up stepped Linklater and the score was now 9-10 with the best part of half an hour to play.
However, despite the numerical advantage, Orkney could not add to their score during Frogley’s absence, when the referee ordered uncontested scrums.
In fact, there was almost disaster. Expecting to hear the whistle for a knock on, Orkney’s number eight Erik Knight threw a pass which was intercepted again by Aucamp, who set off down the right at pace.
Fortunately, Linklater was covering, but his attempted clearance was sliced. Happily, this did not cost the home side.

Then with Frogley back on the field, Orkney were almost in for a try. A quick tap penalty was played out wide right, where Adam Towrie forced his way over the line, but was held up.
Orkney pressed from the scrum, but were stalled through several phases of play until finally, they had a two-man overlap on the right.
Unfortunately, Kevin Sinclair kept the ball and went for the line, where he was held up. However, yet another Crieff infringement at the scrum gave Orkney a penalty and the chance to take the lead.
From just to the right of the posts, Linklater again made no mistake to put his side 12-10 in the lead with just ten minutes to go.

Neither side threatened again until the final action of the game.
Crieff were awarded a penalty wide out on their left following an Orkney infringement at a scrum, and after due deliberation, Aucamp stepped up, knowing the difficult kick would be the final act of the game.
He held his nerve and struck it sweetly – it was never going anywhere other than straight between the posts.
They were the only points to be scored at the rugby club end of the ground, and proved to the difference between two well matched teams.

Orkney: R. Thomson, A. Milne, L. Thomson, S Spence, K. Sinclair, E. Russell, A. McGill, E. Knight, R. Hall, A. Watson, G. McLellan, A. Cromarty, A. Towrie, R. Moodie, J. Linklater. Replacements: R. Spence, N. Work, E. Drever.
Crieff and Strathearn: G. Frogley, S. Horne, C. Gordon, D. Grieve, N. Ramsay, C. Kennedy, T. Scheepers, J. Alsop, K. Butler, D. Lyall, L. Shear, T. Aucamp, A Lambert, L. Gobler, C. Wishart. Replacements: P. Pattenden, S. Adams, R. Coventry.
Stuart Laundy (www.orcadian.co.uk)