Scottish Schools Cup – U18 Shield, Plate and Bowl Finals

BT Murrayfield welcomed three U18 derby matches on finals day in the Shield, Plate and Bowl competitions.

The finalists put on a try-scoring show for spectators as Hutcheson’s Grammar School, Lomond & Helensburgh and Ross High School took home the silverware.

Shield | Hutchesons’ Grammar School 25 – 15 Kelvinside Academy

In a battle for Glaswegian bragging rights, Hutchesons’ Grammar School reigned supreme against city rivals Kelvinside Academy to take home the U18 Schools’ Shield on the back pitches at BT Murrayfield.

The opening try arrived after only 10 minutes, following an excellent break by Hutchesons’ scrum-half, Luke Boyd. The ball found its way into the hands of Fraser Belmore, who wriggled over from close range.

Hutchesons’ lead didn’t last long, however, as Kelvinside’s strong-running centre Ross Wilson – a threat all evening – answered back with well-taken score of his own.

However, Hutchesons’ soon accelerated a gear and it was their captain and talismanic inside-centre, James Stewart, who acted as the catalyst.

Stewart’s quick-fire double lifted his side to a 14 point lead but a quick reply from Kelvinside’s full-back Euan Brady took things to 19-10 at the break.

In the second period, Hutchesons’ maintained possession and put together a series of powerful drives at the line. However, Kelvinside’s sturdy defence held firm and Hutchesons’ were limited to just a pair of kicks at goal.

With McFarlane dispatching both, the score read 25-10; a lead which appeared unsurmountable until Kelvinside’s slick back-line rallied with a number of late breaks.

As prop Callum Brown powered over from close in to reduce the score to 25-15, a glimmer of hope appeared – but, it was too little, too late, and Hutchesons’ held on to lift the U18 Shield.

Plate | Lomond & Helensburgh 42 – 29 Marr College

Lomond & Helensburgh won a keenly-contested match to claim the Under-18 Schools’ Plate against Marr College at BT Murrayfield.

Lomond & Helensburgh notched up a tally of six tries in total which combined with scrum-half Angus Guy’s six conversions to give them a 42 point winning total. In this high-scoring game the lead changed hands four times as dominance ebbed and flowed between the two sides.

There were a number of excellent tries with the standout coming from Corrie Fletcher’s no-look pass to Nick Fish which resulted in an impressive try and an increased lead for Lomond & Helensburgh at the scoreline hit 21-10. In the second half Marr College took the a one point advantage at 28-29 having closed down Lomond’s lead in the second half which at one point was 21-10.

Marr continued to apply pressure but full back Grant Paterson was sin-binned for a high tackle, resulting in a penalty try in the 66th minute of the game to give Lomond & Helensburgh the lead.

They seized the opportunity at 35-29 and Marr’s hopes slipped away when Nick Fish scored the sixth and final try to win the game 42-29.

Bowl | Linlithgow Academy 5 – 58 Ross High School

Ross High School lifted the Under-18 Schools’ Bowl after delivering a try-laden win against Linlithgow Academy at BT Murrayfield.

The 58-5 final score in this Lothians derby reflected the confidence and skills of the Ross High side who gained the momentum with a try in the first few minutes and didn’t look back.

Player of the Match Lucas Reid embodied the spirit of the team with a hat-trick of tries where he ran the length of the pitch, evaded defenders and used deft footwork to get points on the board.

Possession was in Ross High’s favour and the first try was scored by Vangjel Kacori before being cleanly converted by Samuel Scanlon despite a strong cross-wind. Reid was next to score for the East Lothian side, followed by Ali Baines and Adam Taylor.

Linlithgow didn’t give up the fight and a try from Darren Mitchell took the score at half-time to 5-29.

Errors broke the flow of the game at times and Linlithgow looked close to scoring a second try at times in the second half but never quite made it over the line.

Tries from Ross High’s Kacori, Reid, Gavin Davidson, Stuart Fleming and Adam Taylor brought total to ten tries and took the game beyond Linlithgow. Despite some ill-discipline Ross High recorded a victory of 58-5.