On a miserable, dreich, windy day at Braidholm, Cartha U16’s where away to GHA on League Day 5. With the rain a constant drizzle, an excellent crowd still turned out, sheltering mainly in the stand with lots of brollies along the fence line braving the elements, to watch these two under 16 teams go head to head for the first time. As both teams where unbeaten so far in the league campaign, something had to give…….

With the wind blowing pretty much straight down the pitch and down towards the club house, GHA started the game with the wind. For the first 3 to 4 minutes the game never moved much out with the home and visitor’s 10 metre lines as the initial engagements of both teams came across solid defences. GHA however struck early.

Just after the 4 minutes the first penalty award went to GHA, allowed them to kick from the 10 metre deep into the visitors 22. From the lineout saw the attacking home side under immense defensive pressure as they tried to ship the ball to the backs, however the visitors being penalised for offside. A quick tap and drive saw GHA stopped short a couple of metres out but quick ruck ball allowed a simple pick and dive for the line. A reasonably simple conversion with the wind allowed the home side to take an early 7 v 0 lead, 5 minutes into the game.

A cheeky but smart drilled restart from David gave the visitors the ball back from the resulting knock on as GHA tried to gather the ball in slippery conditions. Good ball handling control and minimising the knock-ons would definitely be the determining factor to which team would win the game in these testing conditions.

From here the Cartha Fly half and Scrum half, David Mc Cartney and Oscar McCallum marshalled and controlled a 10 minute period of sustained pressure in the GHA half, however knocks ons, spilled balls with good defence allowed GHA to kick using the wind to alleviate the pressure. An excellent touch kick from David just outside the GHA 10 metre line, against the wind, found the home side about 10 metres from the try line. With good quick ball off the top from Alex Geddes allowed Oscar and David to set Aidan supported by Chris at the home midfield which stood firm. Support rucking by the forwards advance another 5 – 6 metres towards the goal line and with David the backs re-aligning out left a score looked imminent. A loss of control by the pack saw the ball pop out the ruck putting Oscar under pressure from the home defence. Uncharacteristically a bit of miscommunication between the Cartha scrum half and fly half resulted in the ball in behind David and the attack on the ground. Spotting the mistake the pressing home centre fly hacked the ball to half way and gather giving GHA much needed relief and ball to attack the visitors. 24 minutes in saw substitute full back Daniel Adam enter the play and was immediately called into action. As Cartha once again pressed back GHA into their 22, a lapse in concentration from Cartha at a home scrum saw a good pick up from the home No. 8, handing off the inside cover, making ground with excellent pace saw him stopped at the 22 by the visiting substitute full back, who did well to strip the ball only to be penalise for not releasing on the ground.

With this brief flurry deep into Cartha territory, GHA decided to take the points with an easy penalty conversion to make the score 10 v 0 to the home side with 26 minutes gone.

A Good deep restart from David allowed the Cartha defence to press once more deep into the GHA half, but invigorated with their score against the run of play, came back hard at the Cartha defence. As the home side moved across the park on their own 10 meter line probing for weaknesses, from a ruck the ball was passed back to the fullback moving left. With no way through changing direction and coming back across the park spotted an opportunity with Rory and Gregor together in the defensive line but with Gregor ahead in a dogleg, throws the dummy and accelerates into the hole between the players. Showing a clean pair of heels the GHA full back sprints the 50 metres with the covering defence just not able to stop him delivering what looks to be a hammer blow on the 28th minute at the post for an easy conversion and a quick 10 points gain in two minutes for the home side to make the score 17 v 0.

With only 6 minutes left in the half, the feeling in the crowd with the GHA tails up and as yet no puncture to the GHA defence, even with the amount of pressure the visitors put on the home team, like the weather, things were looked bleak for Cartha and it would be a major test of the team character and team spirit to turn this game around.

Again from a good deep restart GHA gathered again and came straight back at Cartha to try and push their score advantage home, with good quick picking from the rucks then testing, with their backs, for more weakness. However as the norm the Cartha defence soaked up whatever the home side threw at them. With a good counter ruck. On the 31st minute mark Cartha regained possession and with an air of calm and control Oscar and David once again went about their business marshalling, controlling and organising their teammates in what they were wanting to do, while in the stand the Cartha supporters temperature and anxiety was getting higher and higher.

From good driving play from the turn-over Cartha power their way into the home sides half. Some punchy play from Gregor McDowell , Rory Mc Mullen and Dylan Briscoe in the tight orchestrated by Oscar, saw the ball zipped out to David on the left, spotting space and changing the attack right, David sets off Aidan Mair with support from Daniel to make good ground deep into the GHA 22 but they were bundled into touch. A poor squint home throw at the lineout gave Cartha a good platform from the scrum with only minutes left in the half. A good Cartha scrum, creaking slightly under the home pressure, sees Oscar zip the ball out to David with Aidan on the dummy run fixing the defence, a lovely pass out to Chris Elliot, splitting the home defence in two but being stopped short metres from the line with good last gasp defence from the home side. As the home side desperately throw bodies at the attacking forwards to stop the score. David looks to have found the space out wide as Oscar feeds out the ball. With a long miss pass out to the Scott, unmarked out in the wing at last a score looked inevitable to add to his two last week against Hawks. Unfortunately the greasy ball squirted backwards out of his hands and the chance looked gone. But without panicking the Cartha forwards took control of the situation and with good controlled close quarter play, Cameron MacKenzie powered over the line in the corner to put the first points on the board for the visitors, with David unable to convert at the half time whistle.

Half Time Score: GHA U16’s 17 v 5 Cartha U16’s

With the wind conditions now in Cartha’s favour, David restarts with a good high kick in the wind. What looks to be a good catch on the run from the home back row sees the ball slip out of his hands forward from the tackle made by the substitute Blair Weir who is on for Daniel Scullion. This is quickly gather by Roddy Colquhoun and shipped out to Oscar, then to Chris then to full back Daniel Adam inside the GHA 10 metres. Then a bit of magic !! Daniel sets off with quick feet stepping the oncoming No.8, then the two GHA supporting defenders. Dummies, hands off and rolls the fourth and accelerates into the gap pushing off the fifth and escaping the tap tackle of the sixth. Bursting away he steps the full back, but changing angle to avoid the covering winger who eventually with out-stretched arm, gets hold of Daniel’s strip, spinning him round to pop the ball to the oncoming supporting Cameron MacKenzie. With about 10 metres to go as Cameron receives the ball from Daniel the recovering full back tackles Cameron low round the legs, but Cameron offloads out the tackle back to Daniel who has now been let go out of his spin, firing him in a change of direction. Now with the ball Daniel accelerates again into the gap hands off which gives him the momentum and determination to crash between the three final defenders in front of him and powers over the line for Cartha’s second try with 40 seconds gone in the half, making the score 17 v 10.

With a good strike in the windy conditions David unfortunately strikes the upright with the conversion to keep the score 17 v 10. However the crowd could see the lift in the visitors, now with the conditions in their favour had the game in their sights.

From a dreadful restart by GHA along the ground Roddy gathered and charged straight back at the home defence on the half way line. With good clean rucking as Oscar again was about to feed David for another attack, the GHA forward slides up the side of the ruck offside and takes out the scrum half. David sends the resultant penalty back deep into the GHA half for a line out to visitors. Quick lineout ball allows Oscar and David again to launch another assault on the home defence, with the home defence too keen to try and stop Aidan and Chris, they are caught offside. With the penalty award in front of the post outside the 22, David and Oscar decide to go to the posts to keep the scoreboard ticking over to narrow the gap to 4 point.

3 minutes into the half, everyone stationary around the posts for the penalty, David runs up to strike the ball when the wind blows it over and he is able to pull out of the kick without touching the ball. As he is resetting the penalty, in confusion a few of the GHA player run forward to get the ball as David is pacing back to take the kick. With no intervention from the referee to stop GHA, David quickly realises and runs to the ball, picks it up evades the two oncoming defenders, but eventually is caught and goes to ground to secure the ball from the home side. Realising that the referee is playing on, even though it was a penalty which can’t be charged by the opposition, the Cartha boys quickly rally to help David to secure the ball as the rest of the GHA team fire in to win the ruck. With a good clearing ruck from the visitors, Oscar and the back seeing the opportunity, quickly feeds Chris, who send it out to Aidan, who slips a measured pass out to substitute winger Ewan McKinnon to dive over in the corner for Cartha’s bazar third try to make the score 17 v 15.

With the bit between their teeth you could sense Cartha were becoming more dominant in the game with both Oscar and David controlling the tight and David controlling his backs or probing kicks for field position to keep GHA in their half and the ball in front of his forwards. As the game hung in the balance GHA’s sheer determination was there for all to see to stop Cartha from getting that all important fourth try. For the next 25 minutes these two team were throwing everything at each other but, more and more Cartha on the attack looking for the score to take the lead and GHA immense in defence and sometime frantic, to keep the visitors out. On 17 minutes Cartha thought they had the break through, but knocking the ball on over the line gave the home side relief in clearing their lines. You could feel the tension building and building as we drew closer to the end of the game.

With less than 10 minutes to go an uncharacteristic knock on from a clearling kick at the half way by the GHA full back, allowed David to drill an excellent touch kick into the GHA 22. A knock-on in the lineout from GHA gave Cartha a scrum. This allowed Oscar from a quick strike to pick and attack round the blindside, where good recycling by the forwards released the ball for Chris to attack the GHA line, only to be stopped a few metres out, illegally as the home defence piled over the top to kill the ball. A quick tap from Oscar to Daniel only gained a metre but as the forwards quickly powered in and forwards towards the line the GHA close defence had to go in to stop the surge. Spotting this Oscar went quickly in to pull the ball from the forwards and slip the ball to Blair Weir who was able to hold off the defender and dive over the line for the score and the lead in the corner. Cheers roared from the stand and crowd, while GHA boys slumped to the ground as they saw the score GHA 17 v 20 Cartha.

Unable to gain the conversion Cartha had to ensure their defence would hold strong for the last 3 miniutes. From the restart the home side gave Cartha possession by being penalised in front of the kicker. From a Cartha backs set move from behind the scrum, Oscar and David let Aidan loose in space where he is eventually grounded at the 22 with controlled forwards and backs interplay eating up time but more importantly keeping GHA deep in their 22. A GHA scrum and possession under their own posts see them try to find a way to release themselves from the visitors grip, but the Cartha defence across the park almost keeping them hemmed in the 5 metre area. Not knowing how to get out, from the base of a ruck, one of the home side forwards pick the ball and puts in a poor kick out wide to try and relieve the pressure. Winger Scott Heasley is quickly to the ground to secure the ball on the 22 and set up the ruck. Oscar is able to quickly pick and feed Daniel Adam on the loop out in space, to easily round and out-pace the covering winger and centre to secure the win with his second try, making the score 17 v 25.

This was a highly skilful and excellent game of rugby to watch for the support by both teams. However after last week’s performance the Cartha U16 boys once again showed tremendous team spirit, skill, determination and self-belief to pull this game back from 17 v 0 down scoring 25 unanswered points to take the league points.

Full Time Score: GHA U16’s 17 v 25 Cartha U16’s

Match Report by : Sue Porter