Caledonia U18 Shield Final - ORFC v Kirkcaldy

Caledonia Youth Cup U18 Shield Final
Canal Park, Inverness - Sun 23 March 2014
Kirkcaldy RFC U18s 27, Orkney RFC U18s 10

On Sunday the 23rd the Orkney under 18 team travelled to Inverness to play Kirkcaldy in the Final of the Caledonian Bowl Competition.
Orkney knew they were in for a hard game as Kirkcaldy had completed the Caledonian Midlands League programme unbeaten.

The first ten minutes of play was very even with both sides having scoring opportunities, finally  Kirkcaldy broke through the Orkney defence to score the first try, this was converted to make the score 7-0.
Orkney had a number of attempts at crossing the try line unfortunately either a dropped pass or frantic defence thwarted them.
As the half progressed, Kirkcaldy scored two further tries giving a half time score of 17-0.

This score was far from being a true reflection of the first half play as Orkney had dominated in the forwards for long periods of play with the back row of David Porteous, Cammy Gray and Captain Ben Sutherland looking strong and the centre partnership of Liam Sharpe and Cammy McConnachie  showing up well.
The half time team talk was still positive with the coach rallying the team for a big second half effort.

The second half started poorly for Orkney with Kirkcaldy scoring a converted try and a penalty to stretch the lead to 27 points. This did not stop the Orkney team’s efforts and this was rewarded when Cammy McConnachie scored a worked try.

With time running out Orkney continued to pile on the pressure and after a blatant knock on that was not noticed Mark Sinclair was rewarded for his good all-round play with his side’s second try making the score 27-10

Considering the league position of the opposition the Orkney team could take could take some satisfaction from the performance as for long periods they where on a par with the opposition with out getting points on the board.

The team voted Cammy Gray man of the match in recognition of his outstanding play and considering he was the youngest in the team and still eligible for under 16 rugby this bodes well for the future of Orkney Rugby.

This coming weekend Orkney entertain Aberdeen Wanderers who are coming to the county on an end of season tour. In a game at Picky kicking off at 1.00 Orkney intend to use it as a development game to introduce some of next season’s team to under 18 Rugby.

Match Report: L.H.