The Junior Academy squad missed out on a place in the final of the LV Cup as Hertford drew level with a penalty kick two minutes from time. With the scores tied at the final whistle and with one try scored by each team, Hertford, as the away team progress to the cup final.
Playing under floodlights, the first half started well for Scottish with the team threatening the Hertford try line but it was the visitors, with their first significant attack, who scored first. With 13 minutes played the Hertford forwards drove at the Scottish line and bundled over for the score and a 0-7 lead.
Scottish still looked the more dominant side, especially in the forwards, with the back row of Brandon, Miles and Dan being especially threatening. With 30 minutes played the visitors fumbled the ball. Josh, playing at scrum half picked up, attacked the line and in the process attracted five defenders. Timi, playing on the left wing, spotted the space and ran a great support line to receive the floated inside pass from Josh and he touched down for the equalising score.
With the first half drawing to a close Scottish were awarded a penalty kick. Gary’s second successful kick of the evening gave Scottish a well-deserved half-time lead of 10-7.
The second half remained a tense and tight contest with both teams threatening but neither team managing to create many clear-cut opportunities, as the scramble defence from both sides was excellent throughout. With the clock ticking down it was the Hertford team who were piling on the pressure to rescue the match. Only some rugged defence from Scottish kept the visitors from scoring.
The final scoring act was a tough way to lose the match, but the whole squad should be proud of their unbeaten cup run. With a number of under-17 players in the squad, the junior academy team can look forward to more success next season.
Squad:
D McLaughin, T Kane, I Koomson, T Warburton, B Docemo, B Babalola, D Edgar, M Wakeling, J Ferguson, T Govea, T Olopade, G Hardy, F Syme, D Semu, D Ajeigbe, O Pellew, M Gallagher, T Mvubu, A McLaughlin, J Kennedy, J Tolan, H Hawas.
