A spirited performance from Shetland was not enough to overcome Banff in the Blues’ latest match in Scottish Hydro Caledonia Division 2. With no competitive rugby since early November, both sides were decidedly rusty, and this was in evidence throughout this closely fought encounter.
Shetland welcomed Shane Jamieson back into the fold at inside centre, with Captain for the day Maurice Williamson moving to his favoured position of outside centre, and Connel Gresham starting on the right wing. An injury to regular captain Matthew Nicolson saw Stewart Mouat taking the Number 8 shirt, with Stewart Jamieson and Thomas Meadows completing the back row. The substitutes bench included the returning duo of Lindsay Leslie and Robert Geddes.
Shetland went on the attack after receiving the kick off from Banff, and the home side dominated the early exchanges, although the game was a bit scrappy around the breakdown. Unfortunately for Shetland, Banff scored with almost their first attack of the game, following a missed tackle in midfield. The conversion was missed but the visitors led 5-0. This score was added to a few minutes later after an extremely confusing penalty decision against Shetland from the referee, which baffled players and spectators alike. A quickly tapped penalty led to another Banff try, and the home side found themselves 10-0 down after another missed conversion attempt.
Spurred on by a sense of injustice, and the introduction of Geddes to the side in place of Callum Williamson at scrum half, saw Shetland work their way up field again. After some brilliant running from first Gresham, then Maurice Williamson up the right wing, saw the latter stopped just short of the line. The ball popped out the back of the ruck and Paul Grant pounced on the loose ball to get Shetland off the mark. Grant converted the score to bring Shetland back into the game at 7-10.
Banff added a third score later in the half following a good move through their well-drilled forward pack, another missed conversion leaving them 15-7 in front. This score was almost immediately cancelled out as Shane Jamieson crashed over from a split field move after a Shetland scrum 5 metres out. Grant went close with the conversion, but the score at half time was 15-12 in favour of the visitors.
With just 3 points the difference, Shetland knew that any score in their favour would bring them at least level with their visitors, and that the next score would be vital. With this in mind, the Blues went on the attack. Most of the second half was played out in the Banff half, if not the 22, but a lack of composure and match sharpness, along with the occasional outbreak of “white-line fever”, meant that none of these attacks yielded points.
Midway through the half, the referee appeared to award a penalty to Shetland, and as the home side organised themselves to take it, changed his mind and signalled a Banff penalty instead. With Shetland out of position, a tackle was made before they had retreated 10 metres. For this, the referee harshly marched the home side back another 10 metres. Banff kicked for touch, and from the resulting lineout mauled their way over the line for the bonus point score. Again, the conversion was missed, but the visitors now led 20-12, and were more than a converted score ahead.
Once again, the home side went on the attack, and again relentless Blue waves were repelled from the Banff line. When the referee blew his whistle for full time, there was a lot of frustration on the part of the home side, as they should have won the game with the number of changes they created. Poor decision making and composure the main reasons for this. Despite this, it was a confident performance, with lots of attacking rugby being played.
Best for Shetland on the day were Connel Gresham and Paul Grant in the backs, whilst Robert Geddes made a big impact when he came on, causing the Banff players a lot of problems at the breakdown and the scrum. Stewart Mouat and Craig Mann were prominent players in the pack.
The Blues are away to Ellon tonight for their next league match, where they will be hoping for a repeat performance of their first encounter earlier in the season when Shetland emerged victorious.