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West Region National Cup 2007/2008
Millbrae 41 Arran 12
Isle of Arran Rugby crossed the water to Ayr last weekend to play Millbrae in the first round of the West Region National Cup.
Millbrae is an experienced team that play in Division Two of the West Regional League so Arran travelled over as definite underdogs.
The game started well though as Arran stormed towards the try line twice in the first 15 minutes.
Murray Picken crossed the line but the try wasn’t allowed because his foot was in touch.
Arran kept pushing forward though and three minutes later Murray crossed the line again to put Arran’s first five points on the scoreboard.
A conversion straight through the posts left the score 7-7. Millbrae were a much bigger team but Arran did well to defend their half of the pitch.
At half time the score was a respectable 17-7 to Millbrae.
After a quick break Arran came back on to the pitch refreshed but Millbrae used their strength to cross the line once again to make the score 24-7.
At one point Arran picked up the pace when they stole the ball from the scrum. A quick pass out to Jamie Murchie left him free to charge down the pitch but Millbrae caught him just before he crossed the try line.
Millbrae continued to drive forward and scored three more times to make their final score 41.
Five minutes later the ball was turned over again by Arran and this time Jamie did manage to reach the try line. A failed conversion left Arran with 12 points. The final score was 41-12 to Millbrae but once again Arran proved that they are a talented team who will do well this season.
Captain Murray Picken said: ‘It was a good game but we were defeated by a much more experienced team.’
Next week Arran return home after a two-week absence to play Lanark at the Ormidale Park.
The game sponsored by the Catacol Bay Hotel kicks off at 3pm. Please come along and support the team.
The Arran team: 1 Steven McEwan, 2 Greg Cameron, 3 Alasdair Ferguson, 4 Niall McMaster, 5 Mark Wetton, 6 Donald Murchie, 7 Kal Masia, 8 Sam Casey, 9 Iain Keen, 10 lachlan Jones, 11 Alan McGrath, 12 Iain McDonald, 13 Murray Picken, 14 Sam Wheeler, 15 George De Mendonca, 16 Ross Lunn, 17 Glenn Stewart, 18 Donald Bannatyne, 19 Steven Gill, 20 Jamie Murchie, 21 Craig Ingham and 22 Fraser Gough.
