Orkney v Shetland Inter-County Report 05/03/16

15/3/2016

On Saturday 5th of March Shetland traveled to Orkney to play in our annual Inter-County match. With a few players short a number of Orkney players stepped forward to play in blue.

Orkney started proceedings with a good kick and push into the Shetland 22. With some precise passing they got a quick try up the right wing through Glen Scott - ably converted by Andrew Mulraine. At the restart Orkney made good ground with a pass from Connor Hancock taken well once again by Glen Scott. Connor unfortunately taking a heavy hit and having to go off for ten minutes with a bloody nose, followed by a scrum to Shetland well taken but ending in an Orkney turn-over.

A good attacking play by Arron Gibson put Orkney back into the Shetland half with a further lineout from Shetland well taken and driven up the pitch putting Shetland within five yards of the try line. Despite a cracking tackle from Ben Johnson, Charlie Horden got the try for the blues.

A quick restart from Connor saw the ball taken by Rhys Davies who was on loan to Shetland. He returned in form with a good kick and chase. Some strong attacking play from Shetland found them back in Orkneys half but Henry Gordon stopped the advance with a dominant tackle and turn over. Henry went full steam ahead and made good ground, timing a well thought-out pass to Ryan Mooney resulting in a left corner try.

The restart saw Harry Siderfin take his turn with a good sprint up the center and a pop pass out to Glen Scott resulting in a second try. Once play resumed, a brief run from Scott Swannie started the next phase of play but a good Shetland tackle put him in touch. The final try of this half came from a sneaky pass to Connor Hancock who snuck over the line.

22-5 Orkney.

The second half started with snow and a strong link between from Josh Rendall and Calum McArthur. Once again, Shetlands scrum was turned over by Orkney and resulted in some strong phases from Glen Brough, Harry Siderfin and Calum McArthur pushing into the Shetland 22. Despite Rhys Davies holding up Glen Broughs first try attempt he scored minutes later.

The resulting kick saw Andrew Mulraine kicking up pitch with a well-timed chase and catch. The game took a short halt here due to a Shetland injury. The young chap was a little bruised but fully recovered as we found out later.
Upon returning to play, a fast run by Ben Johnson got the boys warmed up after their wee break although he was stopped by a brilliant tackle from on loan player Glen Scott who was now helping out the other side after Shetlands injury. A good kick from Shetland taken by Rhys Davies put them well up the pitch but was shortly taken by Ryan Mooney who made his break helped by Jordan Brown. Orkney were back at the Shetland try line this time with Ronan Gray making his scoring dive - Orkney 32-5.

Play resumed with a big tackle from Shetland stopping Jack Marwick in his tracks. Ryan Mooney followed up with a run from the 22 to score his second try. The final passage of play saw another good kick from Andrew collected and scored by Cameron Fraser.

Final Score Orkney 44-Shetland 5.

Many thanks to the Shetland team for travelling. A great bunch of lads hope to play you again soon in a friendly.

KD

Congratulations to our U14s on winning their first Inter-County
as well with a 28-20 finish.