Trailing 31-5 at half-time the Scottish boys staged an impressive second half display to stun the home team and their supporters by scoring a winning sixth try just two minutes from time.
Whilst the first half was best forgotten, both for the quality of play and for a number of early injuries, the second half display will be remembered for a dynamic twenty-minute period and a return of five tries.
Old Albanians profited from a number of first half errors by the Scottish team and seemed to be cruising to a comfortable victory, with only a solitary score from skipper Tom – who had a fine match throughout – to show for the first 35 minutes.
The second half started with a number of substitutions to the Scottish team and there seemed to be more cohesion to the play early in the half. Thirteen minutes had passed before a quick turnover saw the ball moved to the left and winger Liam went on a run. Liam seemed to have an impossible task but a mazy 30 metre run left four defenders embarrassed and the touch-down was made. 31-10.
Just three minutes later the backs had the ball in hand again from a nice clean scrum. Fly-half Fraser saw the space behind the defensive line and a delicious chip was retrieved by centre Daniel who sprinted clear for a score under the posts. The conversion moved the score to 31-17 and the coaching staff started to believe a comeback was possible.
Old Albanians then scored, again profiting from a Scottish error. This took the lead to a seemingly comfortable 19 points with just 16 minutes of the match remaining. However, with the Scottish forwards increasingly dominating the opposition, it was the turn of the pack to claim some scoreboard credit. Good control of the ball by the forwards saw the ball get moved through several phases and Number 8 Bola was on hand to touch down wide on the left. Fraser added the conversion to bring the score back to 36-24.
Some stout defence repelled the next Old Albanian attack and from the ensuing penalty, Scottish went the length of the field only to be held up just 5 metres from the line. Several more snipes eventually saw Alex drive low over the whitewash for another converted try to take the score to 36-31.
Moving into the last few minutes of the game, the Scottish boys again secured the ball and another attack saw debutant Will make a clean break and an even more impressive off-load to centre partner Dan, for his second score of the match. Another conversion put Scottish into the lead for the first time with just two minutes remaining.
With the kick-off won a final assault by Scottish was again brought up just short but the home team had given away a penalty in the process. Whilst the penalty kick was missed the seconds had ticked by, the final whistle was sounded and the boys had secured a confidence-boosting and impressive win.
Well done to the whole squad for a spirited victory. Man of the match – Matas.
