Lochaber RFC 5
Birkmyre RFC 39
West Division 3
Lochaber looked to continue their recent dominant home form on Saturday against close league rivals Birkmyre RFC, who made the long journey from Kilmacolm in Renfrewshire sitting one place and two points above the hosts in West Division 3.
Having last played on September 30, the three-week break allowed Lochaber the luxury of fielding a full playing squad.
However, the lack of competitive action appeared to work against the home team, who suffered a difficult defeat.
After a strong start from the home side, keeping Birkmyre pegged back in their half, the hosts fell behind to a breakaway try.
The backs in red burst through the defensive line of Lochaber after weak tackling to dot down under the posts, the conversion added to make it 7-0.
Lochaber once more had a lot of pressure in the Birkmyre half, but could not make it count.
Aggressive tackling and rucking from the visitors saw them turn the ball over and clear the danger time and again.
Coupled with this were handling errors from the hosts which eased the pressure and let Birkmyre off the hook.
In a near carbon copy to the first score, Lochaber again failed to cover the centre channel, allowing Birkmyre to stretch their lead to 14-0.
Decent passing and a pirouette finish in the corner saw Birkmyre take the lead to 19-0. Again, poor defending from Lochaber contributed to their downfall.
Towards the end of the first half, Lochaber had some good attacking opportunities, following a 50-22 kick from fullback Jack Macmillan.
The resultant line out led to a maul and a subsequent scrum penalty, but the hosts could not take their chances and the half ended 19-0.
The men in black and yellow identified the need to not contest the breakdown and rather fill the field with defenders as a way to stem the tide of Birkmyre attacks. However, missed tackles in the centre of the field again led to another Birkmyre score.
A quickly tapped penalty in the corner saw yet another try for Birkmyre and the hosts’ heads began to drop.
Despite this, Lochaber continued to plug away, desperate to put some gloss on the scoreboard.
Following a yellow card for the visitors, which could easily have been a red after the same player aimed a kick and a punch at Lochaber players, the crowd on the hill finally had something to cheer when a move from the backs saw Henry Luke score. The conversion dropped short.
Birkmyre rounded off the scoring with another try, this time breaking up the wing and taking advantage of a scattered Lochaber defence. A disappointing afternoon for the team, with a strongly identified focus on defence for next week’s training sessions.
After such a disappointing loss, Lochaber remain third in the table and travel to Glasgow this Saturday, October 28, looking to get their season back on track against Hyndland. Kick off 3pm.
Featured image: Scott Williamson hits a Birkmyre wall. Photograph: Iain Ferguson, alba.photos. NO_F43_LochaberRFCvBirkmyre_23_04