Oban Lorne recorded an impressive win against Cumnock on a freezing November day, with a last minute location change seeing them play at North Connel.
Despite the weather, the hosts made a hot start and opened the scoring after some barnstorming runs from Conor Taylor, with Ewan Shearer on hand to cross the whitewash.
Fergus MacIntyre added the extras and this set the tone for the first-half as Oban pushed the ball wide and caused Cumnock problems.
Oban’s second try came from Taylor after a powerful trademark run and MacIntyre’s extras made it 14-0 to the hosts, after strong play from David Cameron and Blair MacFarlane.
Shearer was happy to continue in the same vein, crossing for his second score after some nice interplay with George Ritchie after starting his run from his own half.
MacIntyre again nailed the conversion to make it 21-0, but Cumnock were able to score their first try just before the interval to reduce the deficit to 14 points.
However, Oban immediately responded with two tries of their own by Jamie Bate and Calum MacLachlan to close out the half at 31-7.
Cumnock gained more of a foothold after half-time, with their dominant scrum helping the visitors open the second-half with their second try.
This got Oban’s heckles up and they started to dominate possession, with only a double movement initially keeping Fergus Taylor off the scoresheet, before the winger showed a clean pair of heels to extend Oban’s lead.
MacIntyre’s extras made it 38-12 and then the hosts used their lineout to increase their tally further, with Sean Gordon notching up Oban’s sixth try.
The visitors grabbed a consolation score against the run of play, but Oban were able to close out the match to prevent Cumnock from heading home with a bonus point.
Solid play from Oban’s forwards and backs provided them with a comfortable finish and brought one last try out wide for Ritchie to round off an eight try performance at North Connel.
The Man of the Match was awarded to Jamie Bate and the result will be a good confidence boost for Oban, with the bonus point helping to cement their fifth place in the West Region One standings.
They will have an opportunity to leapfrog fourth placed Lenzie when they visit the East Dunbartonshire outfit on Saturday and are now three points ahead of Cumnock.