16's Boys - Bishopton

On their first game of 2025 the U16s took on Bishopton in great conditions at North Connel.

After a somewhat lacklustre prematch warm up Oban set about their task right from the start putting pressure on Bishopton from the kick off,  this pressure led to a scrum in the Bishopton 22m area from which a good drive from captain Josh Olds was passed to the supporting Jake Jevons and finally onto scrum half Finaly Cottier to score the opening try on 3 minutes, converted by Finn MacKechnie 7-0.

From the restart, good work from Cottier, Franek Kupczak and Toby Wilson gave MacKechnie time to launch a well placed kick landing 5m from the Bishopton try line.  The hard working Ben Docherty stole the ball from the resulting lineout and powered his way over the try line to score Oban's 2nd, again converted by MacKechnie 14-0.

On 10 minutes Bishopton's impressive No 13 slipped through a couple of Oban tackles to set up an excellent first try for the visiting team which was converted 14-7.

Bishopton looked dangerous for the next 10 minutes as they looked to use their pacey backs to break through, however Oban's defence held firm leading to a scrum in the opposition 22m area from which Olds again picked up and drove into the heart of the Bishopton defence, this time he kept the ball to himself and to score Oban's  third try 19-7.

The remainder of the half was evenly contested with both defences holding strong with particularly good work from debutant Tikhon Vorobyov on the wing, the returning Eachaan Louw at prop and Jayden Hall at hooker all making numerous tackles.

Second half.

10 minutes into the second half Olds scored from another close range scrum 24-7.

Like the first half both defences were strong and we had to wait until the 28th minute for the next try scored by Bishopton's 13,   24-12 

Oban regrouped and attacked their opponents around the edges of the breakdown area,  with good driving runs from Wilson, Jevons, Docherty and Kupczak leading to a penalty 10 metres out which Olds tapped and powered through the despairing Bishopton defence to score his hatrick, converted by MacKechnie 31-12, final score.

A great win after a long lay off from rugby, the forwards were immense and the backs defended well against a pacey opposition back line.  Many players mentioned in the report could have been man of the match but the award this week goes to Josh Olds for his tireless work in defence and attack.

Massive thank you to the Ladies and Men's 1st xv for proving the food after the game.