Onward and Upward in Cup and League

After the tough defeat against Kinloss the week before, the boys faced the daunting task of travelling the long distance to face Stornoway in a game that not only had implications for the league but also was for a place in the final on the Caledonia North Bowl. The team were in high spirits as they got their (almost) private plane over from Inverness to Stornoway, with Andrew Rumbles providing constant reminders that he is in fact a pilot and we were on the plane he usually flies.

The pitch had a touch of frost covering the deep bog in the half that was used for the warmup, proving only marginally better than the pitch the previous week. Once the game had kicked off, it was clear that the Deeside pack had the better of the Stornoway boys with the front row immediately turning over a few scrums in our own territory, allowing us to move the ball quickly downfield. The backs were able to benefit from this solid base and break the line a few times, and despite some dubious grubber kicks through, the first try was scored when Michael Maclugash dived over under the posts after some solid forward work. Another kick in behind from the backs had a slightly better end result, as the resultant scrum from their full back taking the ball over the line ended with Callum Ferguson deciding to go Sookie Smash through their weak defence and dive over.

However, as the previous week against Kinloss, it seemed that the boys got a bit complacent and a complete lack of discipline resulted in Stornoway camping inside Deeside territory for the rest of the first half. The defence in the bog was heroic, and despite coming very close Stornoway were unable to breach the Deeside line. In the midst of this defending, fullback Jamie Stephen was given a yellow card and immediate Dick of the Day for a high tackle, despite claiming that he had yet to make a tackle all game. With the home team deciding just to take a shot at goal after realising they weren't going to break the line, the score at halftime was 14-3 to Deeside.

A team talk from big Ian Finlayson clearly had the desired effect on the players as it was clear once the second half started it was Deeside who were in the ascendancy. Behind the base of a completely dominant scrum and solid forward pack, the backs were able to get their hands on the ball and cut through the home team defence. Gavin McQueen was able to cross the line from scrum half for his first try since returning from being permanently injured and also gave him even more ammo on his brother after winning the height battle. Not to be outdone, the slightly smaller Callum McQueen scored a try of his own to peg Gavin back in the battle of the McQueen brothers.

With every scrum being won in Deeside's favour, the Stornoway team barely had any ball and it was inevitable that more points would go Deeside's way. In his first start at 13, it seemed sure that Bailey Blyth was going to cross the line for his second try as a senior player but, perhaps thinking too much about what he had to wear that night, he dropped the ball with the try line gaping wide open. The opportunities kept coming from the boys in burgundy and it wasn't long before Jamie Stephen scored to redeem himself after his earlier yellow card, after powerful rucking by the forwards gave the backs heaps of room out wide. The icing on the cake was provided by Michael Maclugash scoring his second and Deeside's final try, before deciding the Stornoway fullback's face looked better if it had been hit by a ball.

In the battle of the McQueen's, it was the slightly smaller Callum McQueen who had the last laugh by picking up the man of the match award after managing to stay injury free for an entire game (and maybe playing quite well). A solid performance from all that played in what could have been a really sticky fixture being so far away from home and progression to a final of the regional cup meant that the celebrations that ensued that night were well deserved. The less said about what went on in Stornoway town that night, the better.