Hat trick of league defeats on the spin for Stornoway RFC

They only showed glimpses of what they are capable of in a frustrating 80 minutes, although they did manage to win the second half.

After a positive start by the home side, which included a missed penalty attempt from Alan Farrell, it was Ross who started to dominate.

In the first scrum of the match Ross won a penalty as the home scrum disintegrated under pressure, which they kicked deep into the Stornoway half. Stornoway had no answer to Ross’s powerful pack and with plenty front foot ball they conjured up three answered tries before half-time, with one converted.

Stornoway cut down on the errors in the second half and managed to put some phases together.

Young French student Paul Salomon had a terrific match on his debut, closing down space and tackling everything in sight.

And with David “GG” Campbell, Alick Graham and Shaun Smith making in-roads Stornoway were causing Ross some problems.

Early pressure brought dividends when Alan Farrell’s delicate chip was re-gathered by Chris Adams for a try in the corner.

Converted by Farrell. But Ross struck back with a straightforward penalty from another scrum offense. Stornoway continued to push forward but another mistake allowed Ross to break out for a converted try between the posts.

This try all but put the game out of sight, but credit to the home side as they continued to take the game to Ross and after a period of concerted pressure Angus Williams crashed over for another try.

But it was too little too late though, as the referee blew for full time as Farrell’s conversion came back off the post.

In the end Ross’s dominance in scrums and mauls proved the difference.

The home side didn’t help themselves with too many basic errors and some poor decision making at crucial times.

Stornoway’s next fixture is this Saturday away to Deeside.