Oban U16s travelled to Lenzie on Saturday to play a three way quarter- final of the National Bowl against Strathendrick/Balfron and Lenzie.
In the first game versus Strathendrick/Balfron it took a while for Oban to settle down after an eventful bus journey, which meant the team arrived an hour later than planned.
Oban missed three try scoring opportunities through dropped passes in the opening five minutes, but finally got the ball over the line on eight minutes through Archie Johnston.
The Number 8 scoring after some powerful work from Hamish MacIntyre and an inside pass from Joe Corns, with Adam Martin’s conversion making it 7-0.
However, Oban’s handling errors continued and Strathendrick/Balfron hit back after a wayward pass to narrow the scoreline to 7-5 at half-time.
After an error strewn first-half Oban began to settle down after the interval and put some good phases of rugby together, which saw them gain promising territory.
MacIntyre increased his team’s lead when he pounced on an overthrown lineout to score a second converted try.
Oban then began to increase the tempo of their play, moving the ball quickly and gaining ground through Dougie Brown and Donald MacCormick.
This saw the ball moved to Johnston to crash over for his second, with Martin’s extras making it 21-5 in Oban’s favour.
Brown was at it again four minutes later as he fielded a clearance kick and charged forward, before sending the dynamic MacCormick over for Oban’s fourth converted try.
In the closing moments of the game Corns then gathered his own clever kick to score under the posts, with Martin’s fifth conversion from five giving a scoreline of 35-5.
Oban then faced a rested Lenzie, who were fresh from their opening win against Strathendrick/Balfron and were playing at home.
A lapse in concentration saw Lenzie score directly from the kick-off and they then doubled their lead just four minutes later from a quick penalty to make it 14-0.
A shell-shocked Oban responded well though, with a Freddie Johnson try following some great work from Macintyre, Johnston and MacCormick to narrow the deficit to nine points at the interval.
Having fought their way back into the game another lapse of concentration at the start of the second half from Oban saw the opposition again score directly from the kick off
However, Oban’s win against Strathendrick/Balfron ensured they progressed to the Semi-finals of the National Bowl.
In phases the team played well in both matches, the scrum was particularly good and the teams kicking game is improving.
There were notable performances from back rowers Hamish Macintyre and Archie Johnston and in particular from young prop, Stasiu Kupczak.