Orkney RFC U18s vs Ross Sutherland

Orkney U18’s set off on the Pentalina on Saturday 14th December to take on a strong Ross Sutherland team on home turf. Having not played a game in a number of weeks all players knew they were in for a hard game.

Orkney kicked off and were looking very strong in the first few minutes as they were pinning Ross Sutherland in their own half. Eventually after some good forward moves, the ball was played wide by some great hands for Paul Muir to score in the corner. Conversion was missed. Orkney 5-0 Ross Sutherland.

After continuous pressure by Orkney they received a penalty which Taylor Pt kicked to the corner. Orkney took great advantage of this by doing a well organised catch & drive which Mark Sinclair was able to get a good pass out to Taylor who had a well set up move organised with Cameron Gray to see him score under the posts. Conversion was successful. Orkney 12-0 Ross Sutherland.

The next piece of play was not dominated by Orkney and in defence they were giving away a number of silly penalties and Ross Sutherland took full advantage of this to score a try of their own making it Orkney 12-5 Ross Sutherland. Conversion was missed.

Orkney knew they couldn’t let their domination slip now so they came back strongly by once again receiving a penalty which was kicked to the corner. The ball was played from the lineout to Taylor PT who managed to do a run of his own to score a try. Conversion was successful. Orkney 19-5 Ross Sutherland.

Ross Sutherland then kicked off again and Orkney set up a clean ruck which saw Duncan Gray pick and go to score a try from 60m by breaking a number of tackles. Conversion was successful. It was now half time with the score Orkney 26-5 Ross Sutherland.

Both teams came out determined for the 2nd half but it was clear Ross Sutherland were the better team. Orkney were the team being pinned back now but great tackles all round from the defence looked like they were going to hold out. The game entered the last 20 minutes and it was clear fitness was beginning to show and once again a number of silly penalties from Orkney saw Ross Sutherland score under the posts. Conversion was successful. Orkney 26-12 Ross Sutherland.

Orkney continued to fight but a well placed kick in behind the Orkney defence saw Ross Sutherland score again meaning they had scored 2 tries in 5 minutes. Conversion was again successful making it Orkney 26-19 Ross Sutherland. With this score line it was clear the last 10 minutes was going to be a real contest.

Orkney were able to pick themselves up making it a very even game in the middle of the pitch. Strong runs from Solan Dodman was gaining good metres for Orkney. The game entered the last 5 minutes and Orkney had a lineout on the half way line. The lineout was secured by Orkney and a number of slow balls by the Orkney forwards were able to run down time to make the final score Orkney 26-19 Ross Sutherland. A great game but Orkney showed great determination to seal the game out.

It was a great performance but a massive thank you must go to the 5 Caithness boys who came along to play for Orkney and also the two U16 boys – Sam Kennedy and Cameron Gray who certainly stepped up to the mark showing real potential.