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7/11/2009
Good Win over Carrick
Scottish Hydro West Division 1 Oban Lorne 27, Carrick 15
Oban Stumble To Keep Home Record Intact
Carrick were the visitors to Glencruitten on Saturday with Oban Lorne looking to keep up their impressive home record this season with a win over the Maybole side.
Their was a start for Matt Dey at scrum half for the unavailable Euan Wilson, Cammy Smith partnered twin brother Struan in the back row which allowed Andy MacDougall to move to the wing.
The game started well for Oban with Carrick Knocking the ball forward straight from the kick off. This provided the home side with early possession and territory, which they eventually used to their advantage with MacDougall crossing over early on to give the home side the lead.
After a scrappy passage of play Oban quickly found themselves camped on the Carrick try line with a scrum 5metres out. Fro this the ball was given on the blindside again to find the unmarked MacDougall who strolled over to extend the good start. The conversion successful from Robert Wright giving Oban a 12-0 lead.
This lead was again stretched soon after. The ball won against the head was quickly passed through the Oban backline where it again found Andy MacDougall who ran in from around 40metres away beating several of the Carrick defence on his way. This gave Oban a 17-0 lead with only 20minutes of the game gone. This was again further with Struan Smith scoring form close range and converted again by Wright.
Carrick however managed to pull themselves together and with aid of poor discipline from the Oban pack were awarded with penalty after penalty which resulted in a huge spell of pressure in the Oban 22. The home sides fortunes were also dampened when triple try scorer MacDougall was yellow carded for a high tackle giving Carrick a man advantage for 10 minutes. The resulting penalty was successfully kicked giving a halftime score of 22-3.
The 2nd half started the way the first had finished with penalty after penalty going in Carrick’s favour. Oban quickly found themselves on the back foot and Carrick managed to decrease the lead to 22-15 form the successful penalty attempts. This provided a tense finish to the game with Oban searching for a score to finish the game off and Carrick looking to add to their comeback.
To Oban’s relief that final try did come. Robin MacQueen scored his third try of the season after a series of good forward play from the Oban pack allowing him to cross in the corner which put the visitors out of sight. The remaining minutes saw the visitors giving their all to at least get a losing bonus point but the home defence stood strong and Oban were rewarded with a bonus point 27-15 win.
Oban still remain in 8th place after this win but a 12 point advantage over the teams below now means the club will now be looking to progress up the table free from the worry of what is happening below them.
Next Saturday is the First Round of the Bowl competition with Oban drawn against Clydebank at Glencruitten. This will be a step up in intensity as it is a cup tie and Oban have the dual motivation of going on a cup run and repaying the visitors for the recent loss suffered at their hands in the league.
A strong and vocal home support would be welcome, kick off 12 noon.
This is to allow players and supporters of both teams to watch the Scotland v Fiji International live on the big screen in the clubhouse from 2pm.
Oban - A. Park, M. MacQueen, M. Downie, C. Nicholson, T. Smith, S. Smith, C. Louw, C. Smith, M. Dey, R. Wright, A. Wright, C. McGuigan, C. MacDonald, A. MacDougall, G. MacEwan ( c).
D. Williams, Maurice, J. MacMillan, R. Jackson, C. Thomson
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