Under 18s v Aberdeen Grammar 6-10-13

Caledonia North Under 18 Division
Picky - Sunday 6th October 2013
Final Score: Orkney 22, Aberdeen Grammar 0

On Sunday the 6th of October Orkney under 18 team played host to Aberdeen Grammar Rugby in a Caledonia North League fixture.

Orkney kicked off with the assistance of a fresh breeze blowing down the pitch. Play was pinned in the visitors half from the start and with the Orkney forwards showing good control of the ball within three minutes Andrew Linklater had scored a try in the corner. Unfortunately Taylor Pilkington Tait's conversion attempt was well struck but drifted wide in the wind.

---

Receiving the Aberdeen kick Orkney returned to the attack showing good movement and handling against a strong tackling defence. Eventually Orkney scored a second try from a fine inter passing between Jack Stout and Liam Sharpe with Liam scoring near the corner making Taylor’s conversion attempt difficult and he just missed again.
With less than ten minutes on the clock and a ten point lead Orkney hoped to take advantage of the wind and build a half time lead as a cushion for the second half. Unfortunately this was not to be as the Aberdeen defence were resolute and dealt with everything thrown at them and occasionally attacked into the Orkney half indicating that the second half could be interesting.

The second half started with the Orkney lead still at ten points and the visitors putting the home side under pressure, a lot of good defence and strong tackling with Liam Sharpe showing the experience he is gaining from playing for the first team helping to organise his team.

After fifteen minutes the home team forced play back into the opposition territory, after a period of pressure Joey Fischella scored a try. Once again a difficult kick missed. This score gave the home team the confidence that they could go on and win the game.
This was confirmed in the final minute with Duncan Gray joining his second row partner on the score sheet with a try at the posts, he hit the post that hard it was a concern in case he had caused damage to himself or the post. Taylor was able to get on the score sheet with the conversion giving a final score of 22-0.

Many thanks to William Thomson for refereeing for the first time.

As both the under 16 and 18 teams have no games for the next few weeks it has been decided to hold extra training sessions on Saturday from 10:30 to 12:00 at the Rugby Club.

More photos from the match can be found here.

Match Report: Les Howard