Glasgow University Medics 34
Lochaber RFC 5
West Division 3
Lochaber suffered a sobering reminder of the challenge they face to be promoted from West Division 3 this year, following a defeat to a youthful Glasgow University Medics team on a dreich Saturday in Lanarkshire.
Having not played since November 4, when an outstanding performance saw them keep rivals Moffat scoreless in a 40-0 home win, Lochaber knew a strong start was essential.
However, the opposite scenario transpired and the men from Banavie found themselves two tries down in the opening ten minutes.
Weak tackling, handling errors and questionable decision making all contributed to easy scores for the hosts.
The Medics were using their speed to get the ball wide quickly and make easy metres over the visitors’ narrow defence.
A similar third try followed and it could have been much worse for the boys in black and gold if Davy Duncan had not made a last ditch try saving tackle, taking man and ball over the dead ball line as the Medics player was due to dot down.
However, Lochaber ended the half 17-0 down on the scoreboard and with a number of starting players removed due to injury. Tactical changes were needed for Lochaber to gain a foothold in the game.
The second half began with a significantly better performance from the visitors, who applied concerted pressure in the opponent’s 22 and got their reward when fleet-footed fullback Hamish Shaw danced his way over to make the score 17-5.
Lochaber, unfortunately, could not maintain this pressure and the Medics took advantage of the visitors’ soft defensive display to score three more unanswered tries for a deserved 34-5 final score.
With the top two teams receiving promotion this season, Lochaber remain third in the league behind Birkmyre and next week’s opponents Irvine, over whom they have a game in hand.
A vastly improved performance will be required to overcome Irvine, but Lochaber will take hope from a home win over the same team earlier this season.
Lochaber Senior Men’s and Women’s teams both travel to Ayrshire to take on Irvine on Saturday November 25, kicking off at 2pm.