No man is an Island

For the first time this season the weather did not play well for the arrival of the boys from Orkney it was cold and wet. The U15 coaching staff had a real dilemma in getting a team together, as todays fixture clashed with a school fixture which saw 10 of the first choice players being unavailable and also illness stopping team captain Fraser Lindsay , Max Nehring being available, Fin Jacobs and Josh Sharpe also had other commitments as the game was played on a Saturday. This gave the opportunity to give Ciaran Fern and Callum Mackenzie their debut , both Ciaran and Callum have never played rugby before, all the coaches commented that both played well ,and hope they enjoyed the experience. We also had 3 x S2 players who stepped up to play and without them we would not have been able to fulfil this fixture and they also equited themselves well.
Orkney kicked off and Mackie caught the ball and took it into contact. The islanders seemed more committed at the break down and turned the ball over, the ball went through a couple of phases and went out to the wing and the visitors scored under the posts. This was pretty much the shape of the first half, Mackie were struggling to compete at the break down and their body shape was too high, the visitors were more composed and controlled at the break down and won a lot of ball. Mackie never gave up and tried to get a score back and came close with Ethan and Eoin running lines only to be isolated we they came into contact. Fergus and Nathan were working their socks off but the forwards just were not working together.
The second half started well as Mackie had the bit between their teeth and started to put pressure on the islanders try line, the try eventually came from Eoin . The forwards started moving the ball through the phases and a second try came from Nathan. This galvanised the forwards and Mackie had sustained period of pressure in the islanders 22. Unfortunately after a re start the ball was not cleared properly allowing the visitors easy possession in the Mackie 22 resulting in a score. The heads went down at this point, and the remainder of the game mirrored the first half. The guys played with heart as there were no subs and there was a lot of tired boys at the end of the game. There is a lot to work on before we get back to league business .