Match Report | Internal Rugby - Wasps v Reds 17-9-22

21/9/2022

Saturday 17 September saw the eagerly anticipated senior 15 aside match take place on the Pickaquoy Centre pitch.

Since the highly successful 10's tournament last month, Erland Drever has been instrumental in building up interest in bringing together senior players who want to play competitive, social rugby.

As a result, there were over 30 players who came together to train with Jono Heal prior to the main match. This warm up was to allow players to get to know each other and get basic rugby skills polished.

Thanks to Orkney Photographic for all the pictures

The wet, windy weather during the match made the playing conditions challenging at times. Both evenly picked teams had attacking and defending opportunities but the first half saw the Wasps with slightly more possession and attacks. Notable Wasp runs in the first half came from Philip Ross who got within 10yrds of the line while Scott Smith crossed the line but was held up by the Red defence. Just before the end of the first half, Adam Baird managed to stop Erland Drever with a clatter which send a small tsunami back to Westray.

Score at the end of the first half was Wasps 0 Reds 0.

Jono Heal gave both teams some tactical discussions during the break and it was the Wasps who took the first advantage with Gary Nicolson having a quick tap and go penalty and running over the line scoring an unconverted try. Wasps 5 - Reds 0.

The Reds took the game straight back to the Wasps and after some jinky running by Kyle Robb, he managed to cross the line, equalising the score with an unconverted try. Wasps 5 - Reds 5. The intensity of the game grew and all of the players increased their effort with some great individual and team efforts. Adam Baird was the next player to cross the line with another unconverted try Wasps 10 Reds 5. The game continued to be played between both teams 22's but the Wasps broke out of their half and after some well executed passes, Edgar Thomson managed to break through a few tackles to score an unconverted try. Wasps 15 Reds 5.

The final minutes of the game saw the Reds stringing together some good passages of play and Kyle Robb did one of his trade mark runs to score under the posts. The try was converted taking the scores to Wasps 15 Reds 12. There was just a couple of minutes left and both teams were seeking to score in the final throws of the match. Unfortunately there was to be no more scores and the Wasps won 15 points to 12.

All of the players had a fantastic afternoon with the training, the match and the meeting to progress the senior rugby for the current season. Big thanks go out to all of the players, especially those who came in from the various isles, the referee (who had already took part in the ladies match) and Jono Heal for the training.

Wasps Squad: Erland Drever, Martin Harper, Ryan Newlands, Bryan Linklater, Rob Thomson, Ronan Gray, David Leask, Gary Nicolson, Bruce Pinkerton, Scott Smith, Mark Spence, Edgar Thomson, Jacob Urgais, Alan Pirie, PJ McGrath, Gary Moar, Keith Holland, Philip Ross.

Red Squad: Angus Firth, Omar McMahon, Lee Thomson, Murray Inkster, Steven Tait, Tommo Spence, Ally Amer, Adam Baird, Nicol Harcus, Alan Thomson, Justin Pizon, Martin Wishart, Kyle Robb, Stewart McNab, Stewart Esselmont, Keith Kent, Magnus Risbridger, Ben Smith

Big thanks to Neil McCartney for writing the match report.