On the sun soaked balcony of the Strathmore rugby clubhouse, drinking in the afternoon sun, figuratively speaking, can be a wonderful thing; literally too come to think of it especially when your side musters an 84 point haul in their final outing of the season. A large crowd saw the boys in black produce a display of speed, skill and confidence to see off the challenge of near neighbours Harris FP from the city of discovery. Winning this match would see Strathy finish their league campaign with four consecutive wins, ending the season on a high. With a strong Strathmore team taking to the immaculate Inchmacoble pitch, on a day which will have those on the leave side of the winter rugby debate cooing with “I’ve said it all along”, the scene was set.

The game was only one and a half minutes old when Kieran Scoular scythed through the Harris defence to open the scoring. Lee Brits duly adding the extras. Was this start to be a portent? Well, yes actually, it was. Five minutes later young Schoolar got a brace in similar style to his opener. And this was the theme that would continue. Make no mistake, Harris tackled ferociously before running out of steam and actually attacked well at times but on the day Strathmore were too hot to handle for a hapless Harris side.
By the time the referee blew for no side (ten minutes early by the two captains mutual consent) Strathmore had racked up an impressive 12 tries with Harris claiming a solitary converted try. Keeping the scorer busy on the day were Kieran Scoular and Murray Mitchell with hat-tricks and Glen Fieghan with a brace. Adding to the count were Dave Vernon, Bambi Morrice, Dave Ferguson and a penalty try.

Special note has to be made to Strathmore’s kicker on the day Lee Brits. The young flanker converted all twelve of the tries, a feat not seen at Inchmacoble since Mike Bruce was lacing his boots and knocking them over from all angles with unerring accuracy. Great credit goes to the young product of the Strathmore Sharks to bag 24 points on the day, rightfully earning man of the match. Joining him on the after match podium was Mark Scoular who picked up the dork of the day award for making a sublime break, the big prop running 20 meters before passing to the grass instead of the hands of a team mate who would have cantered over for another score.
With another Union season concluded attention now turns to League with the new season for the Strathmore Silverbacks a spit away, details of which can be found on the Strathmore website.

Match Report by Mike Bruce