Lomond School hockey and rugby sides produce encouraging displays

This allowed most of the girls from T1–S6 to participate in a team sport and develop the team values of the school. The first XI warmed up well and despite the confidence of the team it was the visitors from Kilmacolm who took the lead from a well taken shot which beat Lomond’s goalkeeper Kirsty Scott. Lomond reacted well to the pressure with Melissa Bannerman, vice captain and Felicity Hutchison clearing the ball out of the defensive area.

Unfortunately, too many penalty corners were given away to St. Columba’s and this gave them more shooting opportunities. Lomond’s defence continued to win back the ball and allowed their team to start playing some attacking hockey through the midfield and strikers. Josie Sclater worked very hard in the midfield with Katherine Walker and Sally Ram and Lomond was able to win a few corners before the half time whistle.

In the second half, Morven Rowan, Cara Wilson and Mackenzie Serpell made more attacking moves up the pitch, but St. Columba’s was good at defending their circle. In the last minute of the match, the visitors were rewarded with a penalty corner and they managed to straight strike the ball into the goal to give them a 2-0 victory. The match was closer that the score, but Lomond need to work on keeping better possession of the ball. Kirsty Scott was given player of the match for some of her magnificent saves throughout the match.

Second Team The second team worked extremely hard during the first half of the match and they were able to build up some attacking play down the right hand side of the pitch.

Although no goals were scored in the first half, both teams created a few chances. Lomond conceded too many penalty corners and it was a well taken shot that managed to beat Grace Girling in goals. She continued to make numerous saves and despite some better attacking play through Abigail Swigciski, Rowan Clark and Caitlin Glover the team lost 1-0. Kimberley Rijsdijk was the centre midfield player and she ran continuously forward and back to support her team to win player of the match.

Third Year The third team was captained by Jasmine Greig and she played well from her sweeping position. Kirsty Scott was the play maker of the team in the first half and Jasmine had more to do in the second half. Final score was 1-0 to St. Columba’s, but both teams enjoyed their end to end match and teamwork.

The third year A and B tams both travelled to Kilmacolm. The A team had a tough game and performed well under strong attacking pressure from St.Columba’s. Captain, Cara Malcolm, controlled the ball well and looked to dribble the ball up the pitch into space whilst trying to create opportunities for the strikers. Unfortunately the team lacked the attacking flare and were unable to convert any goal scoring chances to even up the match. The home team scored early in the second half and despite some excellent defending from Cara Cawley and her team mates, she was able to distribute the ball to the midfielders.

The third year B team started very well with a through ball to Jasmin Wells who kept her composure and finished the goal brilliantly.

Isabella Stilwell was effective dribbling the ball and distributing to Miriam El-Djazairy and Sorcha Hicks. The team all worked hard for each other but it was Anna Greetham who was voted player of the match for her outstanding attacking and defensive play. Final score was 1-1 and Lomond played extremely well throughout the match.

Others The second year and first year teams were up against some strong opposition. Despite some excellent saves from Emma O’Neill the St.Columba’s girls were able to find the gaps round the defence.

The first years concentrated very hard to move the ball up into the attacking areas and were unfortunate not to score.

The Transitus teams were also up against some stronger primary players. Sophie Morrison and Ava Keating helped to strengthen the team in goals and the matches finished 0-0 and 4-1.

Emma O’Neill scored Lomond’s only goal and was a well deserved player of the match along with Zara Etchells.

Mrs Taylor was delighted with the number of hockey players out this weekend and the players must all concentrate on their individual skills before next weeks’ matches.

L&H Rugby Report To kick of the season, the Lomond and Helensburgh boys played Morrison’s Academy.

The Transitus squad has struggled for numbers pre-season but with the core members rallying together they were able to put out a strong team.

The game was evenly matched in the first half but Lomond ran away with it in the second with tries from Andrew Jackson-Leach, Finn Burden, Owen, Peter Swigciski and Alistair McCartney and a final score of 12- 6.

The S1 and under-13 sides combined to play this week. Lomond Helensburgh kicked off, quickly recovered the ball and the first try was scored. This was to be the pattern of play for the three 15 minute periods. However Morrison’s did not give up and with some rather kind refereeing decisions, came back to score their only try. The final score was 13-1. Scores were: Monty Jamison, Lewis Hart, Ruairidh Fletcher, Cameron Cromar, Callum Gray, Oscar Thomas, Tommy Mackay 2 tries and 1 conversion, Ian Fulton 2 conversions, Nicol Gray 4 conversions. With 3 points for a try and 1 for the conversion the final points score was 46 points to 4.

The S2s only had 11 players so had to borrow two from the opposition and play 13-a-side. The L and H boys started brightly, pressurising the Morrison’s defence with strong running, quick hands and good solid rucking resulting in a try wide left after good support play. Morrison’s hit back twice to take the lead but L&H scored again to level at half-time. Morrison’s scored three very similar tries in quick succession. The L&H heads went down as the match drifted away from them and the opposition ran in another couple of scores but our S2s rallied before the final whistle and scored a consolation try in the corner to make the final score 10-27.

The L&H under-15s got the first half off to a good start scoring the first two tries through Angus Guy and Nick Fish however some poor defence and complacency allowed Morrison’s to get back into the game scoring two of their own tries before half time.

Morrison’s continued their momentum scoring two tries straight after half time to put themselves into the lead. L and H started the second half well, and managed to get more discipline into their game, scoring three tries late into the second half, another one from Guy and another two from Scott. Another Four conversions brought the final score to 38-31 in L&H’s favour.

A depleted side of 10 travelled to Morrison’s on Saturday. three players were borrowed but Morrison’s played with 15. For the first 20 minutes all players showed great commitment & determination in competing against their opponents. Both forwards and backs combined well to set up Kennedy in the corner. In the second half players were moved around so that the teams were even. Morrisons ran in a number of tries but two were returned by MacDougal and Chow. In summary, a competitive game with all 10 players playing well.

The L&H under-15s got the first half off to a good start scoring the first two tries through Angus Guy and Nick Fish however some poor defence and complacency allowed Morrison’s to get back into the game scoring two of their own tries before half time.

Morrison’s continued their momentum scoring two tries straight after half time to put themselves into the lead. L&H started the second half well, and managed to get more discipline into their game, scoring three tries late into the second half, another one from Guy and another two from Scott. Another Four conversions brought the final score to 38-31 in L&H’s favour.

A depleted side of 10 travelled to Morrison’s on Saturday. three players were borrowed but Morrison’s played with 15. For the first 20 minutes all players showed great commitment & determination in competing against their opponents. Both forwards & backs combined well to set up Kennedy in the corner. In the 2nd half players were moved around so that the teams were even. Morrisons ran in a number of tries but two were returned by MacDougal and Chown. In summary, a competitive game with all 10 players playing well.

For the under 18s, the season started away against Morrison’s. The L&H boys kicked the game off well, dominating the first 30 minutes and proving to be the stronger side. Tries through Calum Walker and Jamie Higgins, along with a penalty by Matthew Holland gave us an early lead.

Unfortunately, missed tackles at crucial moments allowed the Morrison’s side to score some late tries towards the end of the half, putting them back in the lead.

The Lomond side fought back with a strong second half. Strong running from the forwards, and direct running from the backs resulted with two more tries through Eoin MacDonald and Joshua Green.

Sadly it wasn’t enough, and the side narrowly lost 27-25. A great start to the season, however, and very promising for the future.