A depleted Oban Lorne squad of only 14 players made the trip to play Cumbernauld last weekend looking to widen the gap on bottom place Uddingston in the table
Oban were missing several players through work commitments meaning the home side were handed a one man advantage from the start of the match. One positive was the return of Ryan Jackson from a long term shoulder injury.
Despite the man advantage the hosts found themselves under pressure from a determined and hardworking Oban team who dominated the first 10 minutes of play. The home side conceded regular penalties allowing Oban to retain the ball in the 22 but failed to find the tryline.
Cumbernauld let their extra number known on their first visit the Oban half creating a try with an overlap to take the lead. Oban however didn’t let this dampen their spirits and produced some more fantastic rugby near the home tryline. Some good work upfront , in particular by Corrie Louw and 2nd row Kieran Connolly.
Oban were rewarded with a penalty attempt that was converted by Angus MacCallum to narrow the gap to 5-3 by halftime.
With the Oban team tiring the hosts made their man advantage count in the second half and ran in four further unconverted tries to put the game out of sight. Despite this Oban  held strong and gained a try of their own from Calum MacLauchlan. Oban created a few other chances in the second half and were unlucky not to add to their points for the afternoon.
The score line finished 25-8 to the hosts but did not reflect well on the excellent performance and hard work put in by the Oban players. The Oban team were left proud of their efforts but knew that there would have been a different outcome if they had fielded a full strength team.
A bigger effort is required from the players for the rest of the season in order for the team to move away from the relegation zone.
Oban Lorne face league leaders Strathendrick next Saturday – Kick off 2pm at Glencruitten.
Oban Minis continue to train every Sunday 1-2pm at the club. All welcome.

Oban Lorne – M. Downie, C. Kerr, M. Flynn, K. Connolly, L. MacLachlan, C. Louw, S. Smith, F. Matheson, A. MacCallum, R. Jackson, C. MacLachlan, C. Ferris, A. Wright. C. Wright