Lochaber Punish Police Scotland in Home Double Header

This article was originally published by Oban Times on 2nd October 2017; view article here.

Lochaber Rugby Club secured a narrow victory over a strong Police Scotland Glasgow side in a tight league and cup double on Saturday.

This fixture was due to be played last weekend but the police would have been unable to field a team due to the Old Firm game in Glasgow.

As the teams were due to play a week later in the West Regional Bowl quarter-final, Lochaber agreed to play a double header meaning that the result of the match counted for both the league and the bowl competition.

Lochaber were looking to remain unbeaten at home after two wins from two so far.

Both teams started well and it was Lochaber who got the first chance of points in the game with a penalty which Jonathan McCook slotted between the posts. It wasn’t long until Lochaber had another penalty which McCook scored to double Lochaber’s lead.

The game was very close with the big police forwards starting to make their presence felt in the scrums and open play. But Lochaber’s defence remained solid and when they got the ball out to their backs they were causing the police some serious problems. The tight first half ended 6-0 to Lochaber.

The second half was no different with both sides putting on impressive defensive performance, both shutting down any attack made. Lochaber were starting to get the better of the police in the rucks and were able to win the ball back on several occasions.

From a resulting penalty, a quick tap and go was shipped through the hands to Lochaber captain Callum MacDonald in the centre of the field. A dummy pass opened a space in the defensive line which MacDonald exploited, breaking a tackle to score a try right under the posts. McCook made the easy conversion to make the score 13-0.

As the game was nearing an end, the police got their own try when they scored out on the flank, but failed to convert. The last five minutes saw the Lochaber defence having to withstand a lot of pressure as the police pressed for a second try.

As time was running out for the visitors, Lochaber defended tirelessly to stop the police scoring even though the game was won as they were eight points ahead with 80 minutes on the clock. Eventually the home side’s efforts rewarded with the ball being lost forward, ending the game.

This result meant Lochaber RFC progress through to the Bowl Semi-Final and notch up a further league win for the 2017/18 campaign.

Next Up: HOME v Shawlands on 7th October 1500 KO