SYRFC on double duty, as rugby kids are in action on the mainland

The rugby stars of today – and tomorrow – from Stornoway Rugby Club were in action last weekend as the club flag flew across a variety of venues.
The clubs future top-team stars were impressed in a North Development Day in Invergordon.The clubs future top-team stars were impressed in a North Development Day in Invergordon.
The clubs future top-team stars were impressed in a North Development Day in Invergordon.

The club’s future top-team stars were impressing in a North Development Day in Invergordon where the Hebridean’s top under 14, under 16 and under 18 players enjoyed an afternoon of high class rugby.

Meanwhile the club’s senior men were also on the road as they travelled to Kinloss for a difficult fixture in the Tennent’s Caledonia North Region League Division 3.

Starting with the seniors and they made the trek with a a young an relatively inexperienced side for their latest fixture. They came up against a side full of quality, including six skilful Fijians in the backline, who had them chasing shadows at times with their outrageous offloads and support lines. The Stornoway boys stuck to the task and put together some good phases of play themselves through the match, including for their two tries scored by Shaun Smith and David “GG” Campbell.

Their next fixture is away to Aberdeen Uni this Saturday in Aberdeen, which will double as a league fixture and Bowl semi-final.

Kinloss ran out comfortable winners with a final score of 59-12.

In Invergordon, 32 boys from our junior section joined with players from Caithness and Ross Sutherland for an afternoon of rugby.

The teams were mixed up a ensure that the games were competitive to give all payers the chance to develop their skills. With some clubs struggling to field teams at the various age grades this format is being trialled this season to try and combat the problem and give as many players as possible the chance to play.

In the U14 match 8 of the Stornoway side were playing in a full competitive match for the first time. They were joined by 3 players from Caithness, with players rotated every 20 minutes. All performed well and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

For the new players the mazy running of Remo Morrison and the work around the breakdowns from Liam Macleod (who also scored a try) stood out, with the powerful running of Roddy Maciver and the ferocious tackling and running skills of the Ross twins, Sam and Joe, a stand out of the more experienced players.

In the U16 match Stornoway combined with the boys from Caithness to play a Ross XV in a competitive match ultimately won by the Stornoway/Caithness side.

Good performances all round from the Stornoway players and great to see the hard work spent training for long spells without games is paying off when they get the opportunity to play matches.

With no Stornoway U18’s travelling James and Lewis Mackay helped make up numbers for a 10-a-side match playing with boys from Caithness against Ross U18’s. Both boys showed up well at the older age grade with their skills, fitness and determination showing through. A great experience for them.

The boys travel to Elgin this week for another Development Day with Moray/Huntly and Caithness before welcoming Caithness U16’s and U14’s to Bayhead on Sat 23 November.

The curtain will fall this weekend on the season for Stornoway’s Ladies team as they prepare for the epic away trip to Shetland. This will be the club’s third fixture of the season away to one of the other islands, following the ladies last fixture in Orkney and the recent men’s trip to Shetland, all at a mouth-watering cost of over £17,000!

An opportune time to thank all the club’s sponsors for their continued support and to ask that if there is anyone out there keen to help the club to please get in touch through the SYRFC FB page or through any of our committee or senior players.

Thanks to Duncan Mackay and Sons, Engebret Ltd, DR Macleod, Star Inn, Crown Hotel and the many others who support the club.

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