An immense performance by Orkney’s pack laid the foundation for victory against St Andrew’s in the best game of the season at Picky on Saturday. Taking nothing away from scrum half Al Watson, who bagged a hattrick of tries, it was the forward unit who dominated from the start to finish, controlling the ball for long periods of time and ensuring the backs had good clean ball with which to operate.

The first half was Orkney’s best of the season – the only thing missing was a greater lead than the 14 points they managed. And when St Andrew’s hit back early in the second half, through the excellent handling and kicking of stand-off Ali Buchan and the searing pace of center Ferg Knight, it took all of the home side’s resilience to withstand the onslaught, steady themselves and kick on to victory.

Orkney were on the attack straight from the kick off. Awarded a scrum, Andy McGill picked up and darted through, feeding Watson, who knocked on as he took the ball. On seven minutes, the home side were in the lead. The try stemmed from a break in midfield by John Dearness which took him to within five yards of the line. For a second, it looked as though he was isolated, but the Orkney forwards piled in, and Garry Burton emerged with the ball having touched it down over the line. James Linklater confirmed his fine kicking form of late with another excellent conversion from out near the left touchline.

Both sides were making light of the conditions, with showers driven on by strong winds, to serve up an entertaining game with some quality play. And for all their dominance up front, Orkney could not get through, thanks to some excellent man-on-man tackling from St Andrew’s who had only brought the bare 15 for the game. Kevin Sinclair made two good breaks, but St Andrew’s turned the ball over with the line begging.

From another threatening position, St Andrew’s won line-out ball and Buchan made one of several huge kicks to get his side out of danger. Orkney did get over the line, again as the result of some ferocious forward play, but Al Watson was held up and had to settle for a five metre scrum. A knock-on averted the danger to the visitors.

From another Orkney throw, the pack put on another big shove, but were held up just short again, this time St Andrew’s were awarded the put-in, and the danger was cleared. From the throw, Orkney set up ball for John Dearness to break. Support came from skipper Glen McLellan and it was fed out to Linklater wide out on the left, but he was stopped just a couple of yards from the line. From the scrum, Orkney turned the ball over. McLellan burst through, off-loaded to Ed Russell, who was quickly up in support, and he in turn found Watson, who nipped over from close range. Linklater made no mistake and after 31 minutes, it was 14-0.

However, Dearness limped off after picking up a knock to his shin, and Orkney had to reshuffle. No matter, Andrew Milne, on for Derek Sutherland, almost added a third try, set up by yet another impressive drive. However, it was a double movement which took him over the line – well spotted by referee Ian Rushbrook – and St Andrew’s were correctly awarded a penalty. With half time approaching, Orkney’s pack again tried to force the ball over for another score, but three times the students held them up, a great effort on their part.

If the supporters thought they were in for more of the same in the second half, they were given a shock, as the visitors scored inside a minute of the restart.
From the kick off, St Andrew’s were finally given some space in which to operate, and they needed no second invitation. Orkney were caught short of numbers on their right, as a pinpoint kick from Buchan found Ferg Knight, and he easily outpaced Russell, who was attempting to cover across.

Worse was to follow, as St Andrew’s added a second score soon after. The move started inside their 22. Excellent handling at pace through the backs gave Knight the chance to score his, and the side’s second try. In the space of a few minutes, it suddenly became crystal clear how the students inflicted Orkney’s only defeat of the season.

This time, however, Orkney were determined not to let this happen again. Al Watson restored the advantage, again nipping in from close after the forwards had driven forward to the line. There was some confusion as to whether Linklater’s kick was good. One touch judge put his flag up to signal the extra two points, while the other kept his down. Initially, it looked as though referee Rushbrook had awarded the points, and they were added to the scoreboard, only for them to be taken off a few minutes later.

Then followed the incident which probably determined the outcome of the game.
Orkney were on the attack inside the St Andrew’s 22. The ball was fed out along the backs, but Buchan seemed to make a perfectly timed interception. He set off unchallenged, with no-one between him and the Orkney line, 80 yards away. However, he threw the ball away in frustration as the referee blew up for an Orkney penalty. St Andrew’s had crept offside, and instead of a certain seven points to the visitor, Linklater made no mistake with the penalty, and Orkney extended the lead to 22-10.

Soon after, it was try time again – an exceptional score by the forwards. They got a shove on close to the half way line, and could not be stopped until they were over the try line. Stewart Spence touched the ball down, but this was a pack score, no question about it.

On 64 minutes, Erland Drever went over for another try. He was set up by a break from Sinclair and good support work from McGill. Linklater added the two points, and by now Orkney were home and hosed.

Knight completed his hattrick for the visitors, after more good work from Buchan, who added the conversion, but the last word went to Orkney’s Al Watson.
McGill once again stole the ball from a St Andrew’s throw on the half way line. McLellan broke down the left and passed inside to Watson who went over in the corner to make the final score 39-17.

There were some excellent individual performances from the Orkney team, but it would be wrong to single anyone out for special praise as this would take the spotlight away from what was simply the best 80 minutes the team has put in this year.

Orkney: E. Drever, D. Sutherland, R. Thomson, S. Paterson, K. Sinclair, G. Burton, E. Russell, A. McGill, A. Watson, J. Dearness, G. McLellan, K. Pepper, J. Linklater, R. Moodie, A. Towrie. Replacements: A. Milne, E. Hutchison, S. Spence.

Stuart Laundy
(www.orcadian.co.uk)