Cale at the double at Regional Championship Finals

12 Aug 2018

Caledonia celebrated a double victory at the Regional Championship Finals at BT Murrayfield today, at U20 and U18, before Edinburgh struck back at U16 to end the day’s contest and three weeks of competitive Fosroc Academy action across the country.

Having already witnessed three third / fourth placed play-off matches and a Scotland Women U18 7s match, the audience on the back pitches were primed for the three main finals between Edinburgh and Caledonia for the U20, U18 and U16 titles.

Caledonia U20 45-14 Edinburgh U20

Caledonia U20 got the evening underway with an impressive 45-14 display, much of which relied upon a peerless first-half that saw them chalk up a 31-7 lead.

Cale ran in 24 unanswered points thanks to a brace of tries from centre Andrew McLean, prop Euan McLaren and a sterling solo score from lock Ross Bundy, who ran in from half-way, dummying the last defender at the 22 to score.

Edinburgh scrum-half Robbie Davies hit back for the capital men however a fifth Caledonia try from number 8 Struan Shaw, combined with kicks from full-back Ben McIlwraith, put them firmly in the driving seat at half-time (31-7).

Edinburgh number 8 Kit Buchan got his side back on the scoreboard but two scores in response from Caledonia centre Grant Hughes and prop Murphy Walker made for a comfortable finish for the men in red and blue (45-14).

Caledonia U18 19-7 Edinburgh U18

Caledonia U18 made it two from two for the region with a 19-7 win over their Edinburgh counterparts in the second Regional Championship Final of the evening between the two regions (19-7).

A closely matched first-half saw the teams approach the interval level pegged at 7-7, rangy Edinburgh full-back Harry Paterson and Caledonia wing Mungo Somerville with the tries, Nathan Moffat and Mikey Heron with the respective conversions.

However, with the clock in the red, Somerville struck again to put his men 14-7 to the good at the break, with Heron again adding the extra two.

With the game resting on a knife edge, a yellow card and sin bin for Caledonia centre Keir Singleton threatened to put their lead in jeopardy for all of one minute, before scrum-half Finlay Jacobs latched on to a miss-fired Edinburgh lineout and raced 50 metres to score a decisive try (19-7).

Caledonia U16 7-40 Edinburgh U16

Edinburgh U16 ended Caledonia hopes of a Regional Championship clean sweep with an impressive, six-try victory in the final at BT Murrayfield (7-40).

The men in back ran in 21 unanswered points through a far-side forward rumble, centres Aidan Boyle and Zach Smith, all of which were converted by stand-off Matthew Russell.

Cale looked to be in a resurgent mood after the early shock but an accumulative yellow card undermined their efforts, despite hitting back with a score from forward Callum Norrie, which stand-off Adam Wight converted (7-21).

The score board only ticked on one side after the break however, as Edinburgh ran in three more tries, wing Torquil Macleod putting the finishing touch on some patient play before back-row Mike Cantle and lock Ben Gale sealed the deal for the convincing win (7-40).