Loch Lomond Rugby Club taste bitter defeat

Oct 31 2008 by Laura McLachlan, Lennox Herald (main ed)

THE trek to Stranraer was one to forget for Loch Lomond – thanks to bitter weather and a similarly tasting defeat.

Both sides struggled with the conditions during a largely forgettable first half and with neither pack able to exert their dominance, the game descended into a kicking duel between the respective fly-halves.

The strong wind made moving the ball by hand something of a lottery but, to their credit, the Lomond backs did their best to bring some sparkle to the grey day.

Midway through the half, Nicholson showed great pace to burst clean through the home defence and create a great chance, but his efforts were undone when his tricky attempt at an inside pass was knocked on.

With seconds until the half-time whistle, over- anxious Wigtownshire defending gave away a penalty.

McAdam stepped up and, despite the windy conditions, nonchalantly stroked the ball between the uprights to take Loch Lomond to a 3-0 advantage at half time.

Conditions meant more scrappy play in the second half but from some slow ball after a messy line-out, McAdam showed great composure to strike a drop-goal that extended Lomond’s lead to six points.

Unfortunately, Lomond were giving away their fair share of penalties and it was clear that before too long Wigtownshire would get their own chance to have a shot at goal.

From close to the touchline their stand-off sent the ball between the posts to reduce Lomond’s lead to just three points.

Minutes later, Lomond’s indiscipline cost them again, giving the home team another chance at goal. Despite a horrible miscue the wind intervened to steer the ball between the posts and level the scores with 15 minutes left to play.

Lomond needed to get back to playing basic rugby and reducing their penalty count, but within moments of the restart they were reduced to 13 men, and facing a mountain to climb, just as it looked as if they could break the deadlock.

Tilley made a break from the base of a scrum and looked to have created an overlap but when he handed off a tackler, an ugly melee ensued.

Players from both teams rushed in to break up the scuffle and when the dust settled, the referee ruled the initial hand-off to be ‘over-exuberant’ leading to a yellow card for Tilley, while full-back Fairman earned a straight red for his part in the aftermath.

A shell-shocked Lomond did their best to stay in the game but there was an air of inevitability about Wigtownshire’s try when it finally came.

They worked their way through a series of bruising forward drives and in the end Lomond simply ran out of defenders.

The conversion was missed but it hardly mattered, the score was 14-9 and there were only minutes remaining. Lomond rallied for a final push into the Wigtownshire half but it wasn’t to be.

Next up for Lomond is a tough home fixture against second-placed GHK.