Rodney Shows the Way to Win

The Vetran Orkney players' two tries help ensure victory against Aberdeenshire in Orkney Rugby Club's latest league encounter.

After an interesting, if not restful, night on the boat, a tired Orkney side took to the field against Aberdeenshire to fulfil their league match. Conditions were excellent for running rugby, and the pitch was firm, which gave the spectators high hopes of an exciting encounter.

Aberdeenshire got off to the better start, their stand-off pinning Orkney back in their 22 with well-placed delicate kicks. This gave the Orkney back three little to do but shepard the ball into touch, or attempt to clear their lines as best as they could. It was from such an attacking position that Aberdeenshire opened the scoring, with quick lineout ball being moved into the midfield, where the 'Shire centre broke a tackle before releasing the ball for this centre partner to score under the posts. A successful conversion made it 7 - 0 to the home side.

Thankfully the thought of another defeat for the Orkney team spurred them on to the offensive, and some better possession and recycling of ball, saw Orkney attack deep into the 'Shire half where an offside decision allowed James Linklater to narrow the gap with sweetly struck penalty. The next stage of the game saw both sides try to attack with width, and each break being matched by effective scramble defence. A strong run by Erlend Hutchison, however, saw him through on the full-back and a good pass allowed James Linklater to dive into the corner. His conversion attempt was not successful. 'Shire got back into the lead with a late first half penalty, giving a half-time score of 10 - 8 in favour of the home side.

The introduction of Rodney Spence to centre - with Erlend Hutchison moving to full-back for the second half had the desired tactical effect, but not right away. Aberdeenshire again scored first, with a sweeping left to right move - saw a long miss pass go to ground before bouncing invitingly for the 'Shire full-back to make the corner to the despair of the Orkney defence.

Strong words under the posts saw Orkney on the attack right from the re-start. With Aberdeen, buoyed by there latest score, attempting to attack from deep, Rodney Spence stepped up, intercepted and scored beside the posts. James Linklater converted to make the score 15 -15. Orkney were right on the attack again, and the sustained pressure paid off, when Erlend Hutchison came into the line from full-back and, through the gain line, off-loaded the ball to Rodney who again scored beside the posts. James converted the try and added a further penalty to give Orkney a comfortable lead.

As the second half wore on, Aberdeenshire were coming more and more into it, a late try and conversion saw the margin on the scoreboard reduced to 3 points, and only some fantastic defence by Andy Mcgill - getting back to a hack through - prevented a further 'Shire score. Orkney held on for the result, despite playing ten minutes of 'injury' time and enduring two 'last play(s) of the game' inside their own twenty-two. Final Score 25 - 22 to Orkney.

The performance was a marked improvement from the previous week, with the interplay between the players, the communication, and most of all the teams determination was rewarded by a well-earned win. Hopefully, these can be built on for this weeks BT Cup Bowl match at home to Dumfries . Erlend Hutchison and Rodney Spence shared the Man-of-the-Match award, although there were several other excellent individual performances throughout the team.

Orkney (v Aberdeenshire): Erlend Drever, Andrew Milne, Lee Thompson, Kevin Sinclair, Edward Russell, Kevin Pepper, Andy McGill, Erik Knight, Roger Hall, Al Watson, Raymond Moodie, Glen Mclellen, Erlend Hutchison, Andrew Cromarty, James Linklater, Derek Sutherland, David Leisk, Rodney Spence.

Knighter