Students give Orkney a Lesson

After the euphoria of last weeks home win, Orkney were dealt a heavy blow to their confidence last weekend, as they surrendered to a young, talented University side.  Right from the outset, the Students were hungrier at the breakdown and more precise in their execution.  Their first try was a case in point as they used first phase ball in an Australian type back move, the ball passing from the stand-off behind both centres to the blind-side winger, who accepted the gap caused by the indecision in the Orkney defence, to go through and feed his team mate for a score in the corner.  St Andrews University’s second try was much the same as the dummy-runners caused havoc to the Orkney defensive patterns.

At 14 – 0 down, after about 12 minutes of play, any thoughts of an easy game were quickly dispelled. None more so when Roger Hall was stretchered off after being caught trying one of his darting runs down the side of a maul, the news from the Hospital was that he was walking but had torn muscles in his stomach and groin area and would unfortunately be off the scene for some time.  The reorganisation in the Orkney back-line took a while to settle but despite some excellent personal performances, the shell-shocked Orkney side were unable to stem the tide and tries continued to flow in at regular intervals.  Half time score: 47 – 0.

As the game progressed into the second half, Orkney did manage to put some passages of play together, but good Uni. defence meant that these passages fizzled out without much reward.  It was during one of these passages that Orkney’s score came – quick ball down the blindside found John Dearness on the wing, where he chipped ahead and managed to keep ahead of the covering players to score beside the posts.  James Linklater converted.

Final score: 64 – 7.  Andy McGill and John Dearness shared the man of the match award.

It was hard to believe that this Orkney side was substantially the same side which have played in previous weeks, but it does emphasise the need to set higher standards for themselves in every facet of the game, and consistently apply them throughout matches and during training sessions.

Luckily Orkney have a chance to redeem themselves this coming weekend with a home match against Fife Southern, kick-off at Pickaquoy at 12:30 on Saturday.  Your support is most welcome.

Knighter