Lochaber U18's v Carrick U18's - West Region Plate Semi Final

It was a very busy weekend for Youth Rugby in Lochaber with all three teams in action, playing rugby in perfect weather conditions under clear blue skies.

On Saturday Lochaber U18’s hosted Carrick Rugby at Banavie in the West Region Plate semi-final, hoping to turn the tables after a league defeat in Maybole in October.

Both teams started the game very strongly with some excellent defence dominating the early play, with both teams putting in some very strong tackles. On 15 minutes Lochaber worked their way up the right side, and after some creative attacking play, the ball was passed to Lochaber’s Hugo Hoevelmann who found himself in open space on the 10 metre line. The strong running No7 took advantage of a gap in the Carrick line, and slipped through two attempted tackles, before running a beautiful outside line to avoid the scrambling defence and score the first try of the day. An excellent conversion by Fergus MacIntyre gave the home side a well deserved 7 point lead.

Immediately following the restart Carrick came back strongly with repeated attempts to break through the strong Lochaber defence. With some good work down the centre by the big Carrick forwards they found themselves in an excellent position about 5 metres out from the Lochaber line. A good pick up and drive gave Carrick an unconverted try on 18 minutes to reduce the score line to 7-5 in Lochaber’s favour. The game continued as it had started with both teams not prepared to give any headway and strong defences coming out on top. A penalty awarded to Carrick in the 31st minute for a dangerous tackle was kicked successfully to take the score at half time to Lochaber 7 Carrick 8.

The second half started at the same furious pace, with the strong Lochaber scrum beginning to dominate, giving Lochaber’s No8 Dylan Monk the chance to make some strong runs into the heart of the Carrick defence. One such run in the 38th minute was to prove pivotal in the final outcome of the match. After another strong carry from the base of the scrum the referee disallowed a potential try, adjudging that Monk had lost control of the ball as he attempted to ground it at the base of the post. Carrick managed to fight their way back into the game and after 48 minutes they found themselves deep in the Lochaber 22. Following some good work in the corner their forwards exerted some pressure on the Lochaber line and a wayward defensive kick was scooped up by Carrick. The initial run was stopped, but the ball was quickly recycled allowing Carrick to score under the posts giving them an easy conversion to take an 8 point lead.

On the hour mark Lochaber came right back into the game. After another very strong scrum Dylan Monk picked up from the base and charged towards the line, it took several defenders to stop him just short, but very good support play and quick thinking by Fergus MacIntyre secured a well deserved score for Lochaber. The conversion attempt went narrowly wide taking the score to Lochaber 12 Carrick 15. The teamwork, effort, and determination shown by Lochaber in the final 10 minutes was outstanding exemplified by 2 barnstorming runs by Lochaber prop Josh Mackay, but the Carrick defence held firm to secure a narrow 3 point victory.

The game was a tremendous advert for U18’s rugby. Head of Youth Rugby at Lochaber, Stevie McAleer, was full of praise for the dedication and commitment shown by the players and their Coach Adrian Collins, throughout a hard fought league and cup campaign. This was the first season of U18 rugby in Lochaber for 22 years, and provided playing opportunities for boys from not only the Lochaber area, but also from Mull and Oban. Overall a fantastic achievement.