Alva Academy senior rugby team covered themselves in glory last Tuesday as they lifted the National Bowl in an exciting final against Bearsden/Douglas Academies.

After 11 years of producing senior rugby teams, coach Phil Stephen was in a jubilant mood as his boys proved to be the better team and lift the trophy winning by 12 points to 7.

The match started off at a high tempo and with motivator Graeme Simpson’s words ringing in their ears Alva wasted no time at all in attacking the Bearsden line. Louie Robertson latched onto a pass from a ruck and with stunning pace and aggression scored the first try three minutes into the game to send the 100 strong Alva crowd into an  excited frenzy. Logan Bonar stepped up to the mark and calmly slotted the ball between the posts to put Alva 7-0 into the lead.

Bearsden/Douglas at this point seemed to be in disarray and Alva continued to apply pressure on their scrum and ruck play. It took another 10 minutes for each side to settle into any sort of play and at this point it looked like Alva were going to be quite dominant. Logan Bonar was running the show at stand off and Captain Reyner Kennedy was doing his usual dominant driving and tackling. The lineout was functioning well and Brendan McNulty was finding it easy to collect and Ross Shand’s immaculate throwing. During this period Bearsden/Douglas picked up a succession of penalties, one of which Logan unfortunately missed with the boot.

Bearsden /Douglas however clearly only had to wait to shake off the bus journey as they gradually began to come back into the game mainly through some good line breaks by the number 10 and some strong running by their number 8. Only some awesome tackling by James Stevenson kept their centre out on the right hand side of the pitch and a great piece of defence by Grant Carmichael which saw Bearsden/Douglas held up over the line. All of this pressure however took its toll as Alva could not find enough defenders to prevent the No.8 going over in the 26th minute scoring a converted try to take the score to 7-7.

The game then continued in a similar fashion with both teams gaining equal possession of the ball and the success and failure of each attack really coming down to minor mistakes by each team. Alva were the team to benefit as Brendan McNulty stole a lineout ball which led to a few quick rucks. The back line latched onto this and Martin Hall raised the Alva spirits as he crossed the line to take the half time score to 12 – 7.

The half-time team talk and some stern words from Captain Reyner Kennedy saw Alva take the field with a level of quiet determination. Time and again Bearsden/Douglas tried to break up the field only to be foiled by excellent tackling and turnover ruck ball. The scrum proved to be a thorn in the side of the opposition as Ross Shand and the front row union of Jack Dowie and Sandy Hewitt won ball after ball to send them back pedalling on several occasions. Alva tried to take advantage of the generous amount of ball won but unfortunately wrong decisions and poor handling cost the Alva team opportunities at the whitewash. The one scary moment in the second half came from a massive clearance up field with only man mountain Kennedy in defence. Kennedy however showed why he has most yards this season and produced two Maori sidesteps to blow opposition out of the way and set the ball up.

The game was stopped not long from the end because a bad neck injury to one of the Bearsden/Douglas side and he was stretchered off. Fortunately we now know there was no lasting damage and the player is fine. This however was with two and a half minutes to go, and both teams tried to end the game. The Bearsden/Douglas stand off tried to make break after break but eventually was turned over and they encroached offside. Captain Kennedy asked the referee if there was time for the lineout and he replied no, Reyner kicked the ball out and the final whistle blew sending supporters, parents’ coaches and the team into complete delirium.

This was a magnificent performance by a team which has improved constantly over the last three games, they showed tremendous maturity and a level of concentration not seen in a long time. There were several outstanding players including Reyner Kennedy, Logan Bonar and Brendan McNulty but for his try and his amazing pace consistently throughout the final the SRU picked Louie Robertson as Man of the Match.

The Alva team were
Grant Carmichael, Craig Hunter, Martin Hall, Joe Pews, Logan Bonar, Callum Graham, Reyner Kennedy, Louie Robertson, James Stevenson, Sam Staniforth, Brendan McNulty, Sandy Hewitt, Ross Shand, Jack Dowie. Reps: Steven Anderson, Nick Gracie, Jack McClymont, Kyle Smith, Jake Bown and Jordan Wright