Fourteen man under-18 team earn credible draw in Aberdeen

On Saturday 2nd of November Orkney under 18`s travelled to face Aberdeen Wanderers. In cold muddy conditions with only 14 players Orkney faced a tough challenge.

During the first 30 minutes Orkney pinned Wanderers into their own third dominating possession and territory.  Good communication between the forwards and backs finally gave Orkney their reward in the 33rd minute, by turning over a Wanderers scrum leading to an accurate pass from Mark Sinclair to Taylor Pilkington Tait who was able to step inside and dive across the line and score. The conversion was missed. Unfortunately missed tackles from Orkney gave Wanderers the opportunity to run down the wing and score to bring an end to half with the score at 5-5.

The second half got underway with both teams looking to take the lead. Strong runs good passing from both teams from the start showed that the teams were well matched.

Through out the half forward passes, knock-ons and high tackles allowed Wanderers to gain territory but strong tackles and good kicking from Taylor allowed Orkney to fend them off. Throughout the whole game a seven man Orkney scrum were able to dominate a eight man Wanderers scrum. As the game went into the final 10 minutes fitness and skill levels began to show but a brilliant 14 man team fought hard to get a credible 5-5  draw at the final whistle. It was a very good team performance but a huge thank you must go to Les Howard and Bruce Pilkington for travelling with the team.

Match Report by David Porteous and Mark Sinclair