REPORT | Fosroc Academy Finals Play-offs

U20 3rd/4thPlace Play-off – The Borders & East Lothian U20 21-14 Glasgow & The West U20

The Fosroc Academy Finals kicked off with the U20 3rd/4thPlace Play-off where Borders & East Lothian U20 emerged victorious over Glasgow & The West U20 in a close-fought match in challenging conditions.

Torrential rain formed the backdrop and Glasgow & The West had all the possession in the opening quarter, leading to Luhann Kotze putting the first points on the board with a fine try which Euan Brown converted (0-7). Borders & East Lothian responded, putting on the pressure, and it wasn’t long before Paul Cunningham crossed the whitewash and converted, levelling the scores (7-7).

There was little to choose between the two sides and a try from Glasgow and the West’s Andrew Nimmo (converted by Brown) earned the lead before a try from Borders & East Lothian’s Liam Herdman (converted by Cunningham) saw the teams head into the second half on an equal footing (14-14).

The wet conditions and slippery ball led to some loose play in the second half, but it was Borders & East Lothian who managed to gain control. A try from Jack Howe took the lead and Paul Cunningham converted for the third time. Glasgow & The West came close to equalising in the last play of the game but a final pass went astray as the rain lashed down.

U18 3rd/4thPlace Play-off – The Borders & East Lothian U18 7-7 Glasgow & The West U18

Glasgow and The West and the Borders & East Lothian played out a tense draw in the U18 3rd/4thplace play-off.

The first period was dominated by the west coast side who held the ball well in difficult conditions.

The Borders & East Lothian spoiled well at the breakdown, however, and it was late in the half before the pressure told.

A try from Euan Wallace broke the deadlock and the conversion took the score to 7-0.

More drama would come before the half-time whistle as Gordon Baptie was sin-binned for killing the ball as the leaders surged forward but the team with the man advantage couldn’t make it tell.

The second half was more evenly matched, and it was the Borders and East Lothian who scored through Scott Clark to tie the game (7-7) after enjoying an improved share of possession.

As it was the west side who scored first, being all square on tries scored, they claim third place overall.

U16 3rd/4thPlace Play-off – The Borders & East Lothian U16 5-12 Glasgow & The West U16

The last third-place match of the day saw Glasgow & The West outscore the Borders & East Lothian, two tries to one, on the back pitches of BT Murrayfield.

Once more the match style was impacted by the weather as heavy rain made things difficult for backline continuity.

Another tight affair saw the eventual winners, Glasgow, score first through Ross Bulloch after a storming break from half-way to give them a 5-0 interval lead.

They scored their second through Charlie Kennedy (converted by Nairn Calder) in the second period and looked in control (12-0).

With 20 minutes remaining, the Borders & East Lothian team got on the scoresheet through a Cameron Thompson try (12-5) but, in spite of healthy periods of possession, they couldn’t create the chances needed to swing the game in their favour.

Glasgow & The West held on well and finish the Fosroc Academy U16 Regional Championships in third.