Orkney/Caithness win National U18 Youth League Bowl

Orkney/Caithness were crowned National U18 Youth League Bowl champions after defeating Dundee Eagles 21-12 at BT Murrayfield on Sunday. It was a close first-half with tries from both teams scored as a result of running rugby despite the wet conditions.Dundee lead 12-11 at the interval after responding to a score from Orkney/Caithness, but it was the Northern Isle team who got the only try of the second-half to see out the match.Orkney/Caithness coach, Colin Gemmill, said: “It was a nervy start but the team really pulled together and our captain, Sam Croy, did an outstanding job of keeping the boys calm and making sure we stayed together as a team.”The conditions were difficult but we are used to that up north, as long as it wasn’t snow it was fine for us.”A succession of penalties within the first ten minutes sent Orkney/Caithness into an early lead, with captain Sam Croy taking advantage of unforced errors.Dundee began to gain momentum and it wasn’t long before Cameron Mathieson barged his way over in the right hand corner in the 17th minute, as captain Andrew Burgess narrowly missed the conversion.An impressive run from Archie Macphail for Orkney/Caithness resulted in an attack from the scrum metres from the line, with James Nicolson gathering to send Croy over in the 23rd minute.Dundee responded through the forwards in a line-out drive which eventually found Burgess who jinked past the defence to score left of the posts in the 27th minute.Burgess converted to put his team in front as both teams continued to run the ball before settling on a 12-11 half-time score.Orkney/Caithness opened the scoring after the interval through Robbie Hay, who forced his way over after a line-out maul in the 48th minute as Croy converted.The Northern Isle team continued to threaten the Dundee defence even though they went down to fourteen men after Nicolson saw yellow in the 50th minute.The Eagles pressurised within the final ten minutes but the Orkney/Caithness defence held strong with Croy extending his team’s lead with a successful penalty in the 62nd minute.Both sides gave everything in the final stages with Dundee continuing their attack deep inside the Orkney/Caithness 22 before a final knock-on signalled the end of the play. Dundee Eagles coach, Gary Mathieson, said: “I think it was a great achievement for us to reach the final, the team played as well as they could have done on the day considering the conditions.”Our captain, Andrew, is definitely one for the future and he lead the team very well today.” Man of the Match: Sam Croy (Orkney/Caithness) Orkney/Caithness: Archie Macphail, Tom Gordon, Craig Chambers, Fergus McIvor, Aaron McNicol, Sam Croy CAPTAIN, Alistair Morgan, Shaun Gunn, Robbie Hay, Leigh Ryder, Dylan Evans, Jack Scott, William Steven, Scott Smith and James Nicolson.Replacements: Charlie Quinn, Lewis Kay, Conor Crawford, Douglas Murray, Arjun Pankhania and Euan Humphreys.Dundee Eagles: Cameron Gray, Chris Blackburn, Ryan Cavanagh, Ryan Gallacher, Euan Mckay, Andrew Burgess CAPTAIN, Ceillum Stewart, Shaun McDonagh, Cameron Mathieson, Kieron Murphy, Craig Nesbit, Callum Burt, Ryan Beresford, Kieron Ritson and Struan Gartley.Replacements: Kevin McGechie, Mathew Clark, Andrew Ramsay, Ben Gray, Harry Mowat, Ramsay Kershaw and Findlay Davidson.