Moffat RFC 32
Mid Argyll RFC 7
West Region League Division 3
Last Saturday was Mid Argyll’s last game of 2023 with a tough away fixture against Moffat.
A strong squad made the bus journey down to the borders accompanied by some of the Boars expanding fan base.
Lewis Campbell made his first senior start when he stepped in to replace the Ill Liam Long on the wing.
The weather conditions weren’t ideal with a strong wind blowing across the exposed park but the rain stayed away until the end of the game which everyone was thankful for.
Moffat started the game by kicking off ‘downhill’ to Mid Argyll. The opening exchanges were hard fought and Moffat wasted no time employing dubious tactics to enrage the visiting forward pack.
The Boars held there own and had the better of the early play though.
A missed penalty from Moffat was followed by a miss from Mid Argyll also and the score remained equal until Moffat took advantage of a gap in the Boars defence and crossed for the opening try of the game.
Kicking conditions were poor and this saw another Moffat attempt go wide. The home team then crossed again for another try soon after but again missed the conversion.
Mid Argyll fought hard to open their account but the home defence held out against wave after wave of attack from the visitors who couldn’t find that finishing edge.
A turnover ball had Moffat charging up field almost adding to their tally, but strong defensive work kept them out and then great work saw the ball turned over and passed out to Coll MacKay at fly half, instead of kicking the ball clear he ambitiously decided to take on the home team from his own five-metre line.
Unfortunately for him he was taken down, isolated and stripped of the ball with little cover in the corner where Moffat went over for the third try of the contest.
This time the wind dropped long enough for Moffat to knock the ball over for the extras. A penalty to Moffat just on the strike of half time saw them extend their lead to 20-0 at the break.
Mid Argyll restarted the game and were immediately on the front foot pushing Moffat back deep in their own territory.
A penalty to Mid Argyll saw Captain Stu Charnock kick for touch which gave Mid Argyll a line out seven metres from the home try line.
Pinpoint throwing from Robbie Herd once again found Gordon McLean, who had dominated the line outs all day.
McLean handed a quick ball to prop Murray Sutherland, and as the lineout shaped for a maul Sutherland caught the defence napping and burst into the five-metre channel with only the unfortunate defending scrum half to challenge him.
In a move straight off the training field Sutherland trampled the opposition ‘9’ and went over for Mid Argyll’s opening score of the day. A tough kick followed but Ali Peterson converted from out wide.
The fight back was on, literally. The game turned scrappy for a while with both teams being warned for high tackles.
A cross-field kick from Moffat saw their winger think he was breaking free until the outstanding James Campbell appeared to drive him into touch with a fantastic tackle, only for the ref to award yet another penalty to the home team.
This was taken quickly and when Charnock made the next tackle the ref decided it was time for someone to go to the bin.
Moffat scored again from the resulting lineout and despite Charnock getting back on the pitch before the end, Mid Argyll couldn’t stop the home team scoring once more before the final whistle.
Final score 32-7.
Man of the Match was Ben Smith, who returning from illness, had a fantastic game. The winger stepped into the back row to help out and was immense.
The Boars now have a break over the festive period before returning to action on January 13 2024 with a home match against local rivals Isle of Mull RFC at the ropework. KO is 2pm.
A club spokesperson said: “Everyone at the club wishes all our players, volunteers and supporters a very merry Xmas and we look forward to seeing you all in the new year.”