Oban Lorne Ladies set out at the crack of dawn last Sunday to play their next NDL fixture-in Berwick.Blizzards and high winds did not discourage the intrepid travellers and after much hilarity and 5 hours in a minibus they crossed the Border into Berwick.There was some consternation from new Colombian team member Laura Montsalve,who realised she hadn't brought her passport.

The idea of taking the NDL fixture to Berwick was to help out their struggling ladies side,who didn't turnup.
Oban was on first against the combined strength of Stirling County/Stirling Uni at 10 aside.This side has two current Scotland squad members in its line up but this didn't put Oban off. Conditions underfoot were extremely muddy,but otherwise conditions were good.The first surprise of the day was when Laura Montsalve was completely poleaxed by a Stirling tackle.Surprisingly there was no injury. Stirling were the first to score with a blistering run from their winger.This was followed by a conversion.

Oban coach Andy MacDougall was on hand to deliver some support and the Oban heads did not go down.They replied quickly with a try from a 60m sprint from club newbie,Ailie Howatt,which was not converted.After that Oban dominated the remaining minutes of the game with some merciless tackles from Audrey Barr and Shauna Mackenzie.Stand off Katie Ritchie worked hard in defence along with Alanna Brown and Kat Muirhead,keeping the Stirling side at bay.In the closing minutes,Larni Wright took advantage of a gap in the defence to storm over the try line for Oban.Again this was not converted,leaving the score at Oban 10-Stirling 7.

After a short break,Oban took to the pitch again to play Strathaven.This quality of Oban's play was not so slick in this match,and the amount of scrums reflected this. Caroline Reardon received the ball out on the wing and headed for the line.She made the correct decision to offload to Dee Bradbury who planted this between the posts.She also converted this. Strathaven made some headway on a few occasions,but failed to score.Oban replied with a further 3 tries from Ailie Howat,Katie Ritchie and Audrey Barr.

Final score Oban 22-Strathaven 0.At the same time Stirling played Edinburgh university,which resulted in a draw.
By Oban's calculations this puts their ladies at the top of the League once more,but only by one point.Next fixture is on 15/2/09 at Strathaven and the Oban ladies are aware that there is everything to play for.