Battling Orkney RFC lose out to Murrayfield Wanderers

April 7, 2018 at 4:45 pm

Winger Matt Jackson squeezes in at the corner to score Orkney’s first try of the afternoon. (www.theorcadianphotos.co.uk)

Orkney RFC came close to upsetting promotion-chasing Murrayfield Wanderers at Pickaquoy this afternoon in BT National League Division 3, in what was a high scoring and entertaining fixture.

Although the home side scored two first half tries through Matt Jackson and Scott Rendall, they trailed 10-26 at half time, and looked to be out of it when the visitors scored early in the second half to extend their lead to 10-31.

However, the Orkney boys showed fantastic character to haul themselves back into the match with Rendall, who had an outstanding game, scoring another two to complete his hat-trick, and then Steven MacPhail crossing to bring the score to 27-31 with 15 minutes to play.

The crowd were right behind the home team who had the momentum at this point, but credit must be given to Murrayfield Wanderers who were able to seize back the initiative and score to take the match out of Orkney’s reach at 27-38.

Fourth-from-bottom Orkney, for their efforts, secured a winning bonus point which may prove vital in the relegation battle, and they can look forward to their rescheduled home game against struggling Perthshire RFC in two weeks time with confidence.