| Oban win 2 out of 3 matches at Glencruitten |
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| Thursday, 03 April 2008 | |
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Oban Lorne hosted their only fixture of the Ladies National Development league on Sunday. It was a luxury for the Oban girls not to travel vast distances as they have been all season. Due to exams and other commitments, only 3 other teams made it to Oban-Strathaven, Cartha and Morgan.
Oban were delighted that their new strips, sponsored by Yeoman Glensanda had arrived the previous day and were keen to give their strips their first roll in the mud. Oban's first match was against Strathaven. This was played at 7 a side due to Strathaven having only seven players who were judged fit to play. Oban were first to score in literally the opening minute, and this continued to be the general rule of the game.Oban scored several more tries before Strathaven managed to score from a breakdown,which was also converted. Final score :Oban 43-Strathaven 7. Cartha were the second team to play Oban. In past matches, Cartha and Oban have been evenly matched, however this was not to be the case on Sunday. This match was played at 10 a side and from the kick off the teams suffered from every type of adverse weather available. Obans tried to ignore the hailstones and were quickly into their stride, with the tries and conversions coming fast. In the second half, Cartha made a few good breaks but were prevented from scoring by some solid defence. Final score Oban 55-Cartha 0. By this time of the day it was evident that Both Strathaven and Cartha were heading home, leaving Oban to play Morgan. This meant that Oban was the only team to play 3 matches and were feeling fatigued by the time they came up against Morgan. Morgan also had the luxury of a pool of 22 players with them,so rolling subs were the order of the day. Morgan were the current league leaders with one point separating them from Oban, so it was all to play for and both teams were acutely aware of this. Morgan really made Oban work hard for the first time,and every scrum,lineout and ruck was fiercely contested. Oban were the first to score and convert and this fired the Morgan enthusiasm. They replied with two tries and one conversion. Coach Andy MacDougall handed out some sound advice at half time, and in the second half Oban scored in the opening minutes. Unfortunately this was not enough and Morgan slipped one more try in before full time. Final score Oban 12-Morgan 17. It has not yet been formally announced by the SWRU, but Oban may have been the final fixture of the NDL, leaving Oban Ladies a very close second behind Morgan in the league. Training continues as ever,Fridays 6-8pm at Glencruitten Clubhouse,new players always welcome and no experience necessary. Team:Dee Bradbury(captain)Rochelle MacDougall,Katie Ritchie,Sheila Louw,Caroline Reardon,Fiona MacDonald,Audrey Barr,Donna Smith,Jemma Campbell,Chrissie Bell,Lesley Whyte. To mark the fact that Oban was hosting the NDL and with SWRU staff already in town, several courses ran over the weekend. On the Friday evening 4 youth players qualified as Youth Coaches and they will continue to assist with mini rugby coaching. On the Saturday several club members qualified in Joint Foundation Coaching and refereeing. On Sunday morning prior to the senior ladies rugby, a coaching clinic and match was held at Glencruitten for Mull girls and the newly formed Oban girls team. In the first half of the session the girls were coached by top SWRU coaches concentrating mainly on contact and tackles. After this Oban played Mull in a highly exciting match. Despite only having played for a few months, the quality of play was consistently high and some great tackles were made. Mull, being the more experienced side, won the match. Afterwards the girls retired to the club house where they were awarded with rugby t-shirts and mini rugby balls from the SWRU. There are plans to develop girls rugby in this area and this is fully supported by the SWRU. New players are always welcome. |
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