Shetland Schools (Under 18) 36 Mearns Academy 15
On a glorious afternoon for rugby Mearns kicked off and within a minute had taken the lead following some hesitation in mopping up loose ball by the home defence, which allowed the visitors to score on the right. An early shock the home team did not need! However the boys did pick up the pieces and began to exert some pressure of their own. After a few surges at the Mearns line, the ball was worked to the right from a ruck for Danny Farnworth to touch down.

The game entered a frantic period with Mearns looking dangerous through their forwards and it was from some good play around the fringes of the ruck they got their second try. Solid Shetland defence under pressure forced turnover ball and allowed the home team to clear their lines on more than one occasion. Shetland were looking to unleash their quick backs and following some good build up play Stuart Donald cut loose and scored from forty metres out. Lewis King was successful with the conversion. There was no further scoring in the half and both teams took onboard some well earned refreshment during the break.

Joe O'Connor started the second half with an excellent hanging drop kick allowing the forwards to put pressure on the Mearns receiver. Good forward play saw the ball flash wide again and Ben Cranie came into the line to score. Mearns were now visibly tiring and Shetland turned the screw. From some sloppy work in the midfield the Mearns defence failed to secure a loose ball and Danny Farnworth took advantage, fly hacking the ball on and beating the defence to score under the posts. King scored the extra points. Lewis capped a fine game at outside centre with a try of his own to stretch the home lead. Mearns rallied and once again drove up field with some excellent pick and go plays. From a ruck just on the line they were able to scramble over to score a consolation try. Time was just about up when Peter Sidgwick topped off the Shetland scoring with a try in the right hand corner. Ref Paul Woods blew full time and the celebrations began!

This was this group of players first win and the boys certainly enjoyed the moment. It is difficult to single out anyone but in most folks eyes prop Ewan "Yogi" McGuire had a superb match, making big hits and playing like a man possessed! The back row foraged and scranned ball all afternoon. Behind the scrum Iain Nicol is improving game by game and Gareth Robertson showed a lot of pace on the wing in his debut.

The boys now eagerly await their next opponents in the next round

Shetland team: Ewan Mcguire, Jeff Dobson, Ross Winks, Niall Christie, Danny Farnworth, Maurice Williamson, Thorfinn Craigie, Craig Mann, Thomas Meadows, Joe O'Connor, Stuart Donald, Lewis King, Gareth Robertson (AHS), Ben Cranie, Peter Sidgwick (Brae HS), Daniel Meadows, Iain Nicol, James Sinclair (Sandwick JHS), Michael Williamson, Joe McElhone (Whalsay School)