A free scoring Oban Under 16s boys team came out on top against a combined East Kilbride/Strathaven team at Glencruitten on Sunday.
However, it was the visitors who started the game strongly, using their big forwards to good effect and continually making inroads into Oban’s defence.
There was a significant momentum shift after four minutes though, when good work at the back of the scrum by scrum-half Joe Corns sent Freddie Johnson running up the wing.
Some strong rucking then enabled Corns to make a half break, before passing to Donald MacCormick for the stand-off to race in from the halfway line for the opening try, which was duly converted by Arran Martin.
The visitors hit back with a penalty to narrow the gap to four points and then some poor tackling allowed East Kilbride/Strathaven to take a 7-10 lead with a converted try under the posts.
Oban continued to face heavy pressure from the visitors abrasive forwards, but the hosts’ defence held strong and on 18 minutes Corns made another half break to send livewire MacCormick in for his second try.
The ensuing conversion by Martin gave the hosts a 14-10 lead, but Oban soon found themselves behind again when the visitors used their big runners to gain ground and score an unconverted from short range.
Oban now started increasing their ruck speed and moving the ball quickly to tire their bigger opponents.
This led to another Corns break and his pass to Freddie Johnson saw the winger power through the opposition defence to grab Oban’s third try, with Martin’s conversion making it 21-15.
By this point the visitors were starting to tire and Hamish Macintyre was causing havoc, taking two quick tap penalties to gain 40 metres and smashing his way through numerous attempted tackles.
He was brought down just short of the try line, but quick ruck speed allowed Corns to put MacCormick in for his hat-rick score, which Martin again converted.
Oban also started the second half strongly, with good running from Martin and Dougie Brown, releasing winger Conan Burns to grab Oban’s fifth try.
Liam Maclennan added the extras to give the hosts a commanding 35-15 lead, but it was the visitors who would cross the whitewash next.
From the restart MacCormick kicked long and a good chase from Martin won the ball back, but just when it looked like Oban would score again, a loose pass was intercepted by the opposition’s centre, who ran the length of the field to score.
However, the boys in green shook off this set back and good pressure on the visitors’ scrum saw Corns get the ball to Macintyre, who powered over for his first of the day to make it 40-22.
The visitors hit back with another penalty to narrow the gap to 15 points, but a great lineout move on 60 minutes from Liam Maclennan saw Oban take possession again.
It was then moved swiftly through the hands to Martin, with the centre making good ground.
This was followed by two fast rucks that enabled the twinkle toed MacCormick to dance his way over for his fourth try of the day, with another Maclennan conversion extending Oban’s lead further.
More great running and ruck speed then saw Macintyre go over for his second try to take Oban over the 50 point mark.
The hosts weren’t finished yet though, and from the restart a great sidestep and dummy from Maclennan set up Archie Johnston to throw a fake pass, dummy kick and sidestep on his way to scoring a sensational individual try, which had started near the halfway line.
In the closing stages at Glencruitten, Oban were in total control and the ball was moved across the pitch twice, before Franeck Kupczak powered over for their final converted try to give a final score of 64-28.
It was a pleasing performance for Oban’s coaches, with a vast improvement in ruck speed after the team had focused on this aspect of their game during training.
The youngsters also found solutions to problems on the field to overcome their bigger opponents and continued to show great team spirit and team work.
The Man of the match award could have gone to a number of players, such as the Franeck Kupczak, Daniel Campbell, Hamish Macintyre a menace to all opposition teams, Archie Johnston the breakdown king and on any other day 4 try Donald MacCormick.
However, the coaches and referee decided that the industrious Joe Corns epitomised great teamwork, with his unselfish play demonstrated through his involvement in almost all of Oban’s 10 tries.
An Oban Lorne RFC representative said: “Thanks again to all that helped in the kitchen and donated food. Oban is a place visiting teams enjoy visiting and a big thank you to Alan Wright for his excellent officiating.”