Moray 2nd XV 15 Ross Sutherland 1st XV 41: Battling display by Morriston club's second string
Moray 2nd XV lost out by 41 points to 15 in a hard-fought contest against Ross Sutherland 1st XV in their latest Caledonia League Division 2 North fixture at Morriston last Saturday.
The Elgin side kicked off and immediately regained the ball in the 22. After a couple of forward drives for the line, they spun the ball to the backs to centre Jonny Haslam. He brushed off a couple of tackles and made the line for an unconverted try and a 5-0 lead.
In the 10th minute, Ross replied with a converted try after some strong running to take a 5-7 lead.
Five minutes later, they extended this to 5-12 when the home side lost a line, 30 metres out, and the ball was opened wide for an unconverted try to be scored.
In the 21st minute, Moray narrowed the lead. A penalty took them to an attacking line, 5 metres out. Clean ball was taken off the top and a drive set. The drive inched forward and over the line with hooker Chris Robottom getting the ball down for an unconverted try and 10-12.
Three minutes later, a Ross centre intercepted a pass midfield and made the line for a converted try and 10-19.
For the next 10 minutes, the Elgin side put their opponents under a lot of pressure in the 22 but unfortunately could not turn this into points.
In virtually the final play of the half, the Ross stand-off stepped past two defenders before offloading for a converted try to be scored leaving the half-time score at 10-26.
Ten minutes into the second half, the home side again narrowed the lead. A break from centre Cameron Preece, from inside his own half, saw him beat 3 defenders before finally being brought down inside the 22. Stand-off Blair Garrick was supporting and received the pass to run in an unconverted try for 15-26.
Moray tried hard to get back in touch but on the 60-minute mark, a good break and good hands by the visitors created an unconverted try for 15-31.
The home side put together another period of pressure looking to get back in the game and win at least a bonus point with a 4th try but two late unconverted tries by Ross put the game beyond them at 15-41.
It had been a hard-fought match and a much closer game than the score would suggest. The Moray side were disappointed not to get something out of the game as they had contested well against the current top side in the league but can take great heart from this moving forward.
This Saturday, Moray 1st XV have RAF Lossiemouth as visitors to Morriston, kick-off 2pm. Moray Women are also in action at Morriston, against Caithness, with the same kick-off time. Moray 2nd XV are away from home and play Inverness Craig Dunain.
