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The rugby season ended in dramatic fashion on Saturday as Arran rugby club celebrated a nail-biting victory to take them up to the next division.
A 10-9 victory over nearest rivals Hyndland saw the Arran team promoted to Division Two, West Regional League for next season.
There were a few anxious moments before the final whistle as Arran hung on grimly to their narrow lead against a Hyndland side also fighting for promotion.
In the end, the fate of the two clubs was decided on points difference.
The match at Ormidale Park, Brodick was watched by the biggest crowd of the season as many locals gathered to cheer on the home team.
Coach Bert Ramage said: ‘I am so proud of the Arran boys. They stood shoulder to shoulder and will never have played under so much pressure. They kept their shape throughout the game.
‘I told them before that it was important to play as a team and they did everything I asked. It would be hard to pick a man of the match, but if I had to it would have been Lachlan Jones.’
The game could have started better for Arran as a mistake in the first five minutes gave Hyndland a penalty kick and three points on the score board.
Arran worked hard to counteract this and only 15 minutes into the first half Kal Masia stole the ball from a ruck on the 22 metre line.
Despite being tackled by a couple of Hyndland players, he powered through to score the only try of the match.
Lachlan Jones slotted through the much-needed conversion to take Arran into the lead by seven points to three.
Despite having a heavier team, Hyndland rarely had a chance to reach the line in the first half and Arran were awarded another penalty which Lachlan sent sailing through the posts. Half time score was 10-3 to Arran.
After the break the Glasgow team appeared a little rejuvenated as they began to play some long runs down field and eventually Hyndland were awarded another penalty kick which gave them six points.
Arran were trying hard to score another try. Ben Tattersfield and Jamie Murchie both had long runs down the pitch but they were stopped in their tracks.
In the dying minutes of the game a penalty took the visiting team to nine points which was absolutely tortuous not just for the players but also for the watching crowd.
Luckily for the home team they didn’t make any more mistakes and their defence stayed strong until the final blow of the whistle.
In the end Arran won promotion on points scored difference, ending the season on 50 points, the same as Hyndland, but with a difference of 297 against 258. The Arran team scored 522 points and conceded 225 whilst Hyndland scored 464 and conceded 206. That was enough to send Arran up and leave Hyndland in the third division.
Bert said: ‘The game nearly never took place. At 6.30pm on Friday the referee called off with a family crisis and we couldn’t get another one. By 9.30am on Saturday we had managed to find one but it was a close run thing.
‘We were under a lot of pressure in the second half. Hyndland were over our line twice near the end of the match but they knocked on once and we stole the ball the other time.
‘Our squad is probably the youngest in the league. We have an average age of 21 years and had two 16 year olds on the pitch on Saturday. They showed a lot of maturity.
‘I have told the boys that they will have to play like that every Saturday in Division Two next year. We have already played three Division Two teams this season and did quite well.
‘On behalf of the club I would like to thank the Banner and Murchie Sand and Gravel for their support over the year. Also thanks go to all the players and supporters for their efforts. It was all worthwhile. We have a young promising squad with a lot of talent.
No one is leaving to go to university next year which is a good omen for us.’
