U16 Cup | George Watson’s College defeat Dundee High

Full-Time: George Watsons College 15 – 5 Dundee High School

George Watson’s College against Dundee High School was the first match on the main pitch at BT Murrayfield for the U16 Boys Schools Cup Final.

The rain that had been falling throughout most of the afternoon had finally eased by, however, it didn’t make handling the ball very easy as both teams struggled to keep hold of possession in the early exchanges.

Dundee High took the early spoils through Dougray Smith from close range, but George Watsons were soon on level terms as Michael Cantle scored, with both conversion attempts failing to go over.

Both teams enjoyed periods of possession but failed to capitalise before the referee’s whistle went for half-time.

Half-Time: George Watsons College 5- 5 Dundee High School

It looked like a special bit of skill would be required to separate the sides and it eventually came via a clever chip from Brodie Young which the scrum-half collected to score a vital try for his side. With the conversion missed, however, the game was still very much in the balance [10-5].

Watson’s sensed their opportunity, and despite some good defence from their opponents, Struan Ambrose would finish with a try to give his side a 15-5 win to lift the U16 Schools Cup.

At full time George Watson’s College captain Matthew McMillan was lost for words, “It means everything, it’s what we’ve been working towards together with our coaches, we’ve put in so much effort, so as much for the coaches as it is for the players.

“It was a tough final against a really good Dundee team and the weather wasn’t great, so it proved to be a very, very tight match.

“The atmosphere was unreal. To play on the international pitch is an occasion in itself and to have all these people here supporting you, it’s unreal.”

George Watson’s College: Stanley Cockerill; Zack Neil, Struan Ambrose, Euan Maguire, Sam Cavens; Matthew McMillan CAPTAIN, Brodie Young; Charlie Robertson, Brayden Lynes, Conor Myles, Ben Gale, Joshua Aspinall, Archie Watters, Chris Hardie, Michael Cantle

Replacements: Connor Lister, Jack Murdoch, Michael Curnow, Jamie Clark, Jamie Sandland, Steven Logan, Cameron Elmslie.

High School of Dundee: Ross Clark; Sam Hargreaves, Andrew Lothian, Zak Boyd, Rory Harrower; Callum Findlay, Hamish Findlay CAPTAIN; Cameron Lyall, Callum Todd, Adam Flynn, Jamie Hutcheon, Angus Neville, Matthew Curnyn, Dougray Smith, Malachy Keough

Replacements: Ewan Henderson, Rohan Tauro, Kasym Zaidi, Matthew Joss, Hamza Chohan, Innes Chalmers, Craig Gunn.