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 Report of the Lochaber 7's - (courtesy of coach Reay Whyte) - Mull travelled to the Lochaber 7's on Saturday 29th April using the 'Morvern on the move ' community minibus with a squad of 11 players.The draw for the tournament put Mull in with Oban Lorne A , Allan Glen's and a hastily made up team called 'Odds & Sods' who replaced the Fort George based Fijians who were a late call off.The other pool contained Oban Lorne B ( remarkably similar to Oban A squad), Strathmore,Hillhead / Jordanhill, and hosts Lochaber. The results were as follows:- Oban Lorne A 26 - Mull 19 Mull 55 Odds & Sods 0 Mull 19 - Allan Glens 17 So Oban Lorne A went through to the final where they defeated Hillhead/Jordanhill 30 pts to 24. The Mull squad was James MacPhail ( capt) Alex Craig Donald Morrison Derwyn Hewitt Stu o' Donnell Crawford Whyte Alasdair Whyte James Gibbons David Downham Shaun Olsen Calum MacDonald The whole squad was used in the warm conditions except for Calum who played in all the games for the Odds and Sods.. Mull v’s Mid Argyll - Sat 1/04/06 Result win 45 - 0 With such a long break without a game it seemed that Mull had kept their best till last. The team played with commitment and skill level to that sent Mid-Argyll away without a point whilst putting 45 points on them. James McPhail interacting with David Downham scored the first try and Alisdair following up with a 2 penalties to make it an 11 - 0 score line. Pressure with a try from James Gibbons moved the score to 16 - 0 and running down the line Dave Downham added another to make the score 21 - 0. More powerfull running from the captain increased the score to 26 - 0 with Alisdair converting, then another from James Mc Phail and finally a hatrick of tries from David Downham. An impressive performance from all the team left us wondering how the season might have gone if those missing games could have been played! Mull v’s Clydesdale - Sat 14/01/06 Result win 37 - 19 The Xmas & New Year had its impact on the Mull side as the within the 10 mins the visitors had scored twice, due mainly to some poor tackling. An unsavoury incident on the Mull Hooker - Josh Martin then turned the game into a niggling affair which carried on throughout the game, exacerbated by some inadequate and often bizzarre refereeing! A penalty by Aladair Whyte made it 3 -12. Stu O'Donnel displayed some good running & handling skills & drive by Tom Lines & feed to James McPhail to score gave a half time score of 8 - 12. Another early run in the second half & handing by the centres allowed Alex Craig to score in the corner, giving Mull the lead at 13 - 12. The Clydesdale stand off had some wiery running skills & scored to change the lead 13 -19. Crawford Whyte surged his way through the Clydesdale line to score & the conversion put Mull in front once again at 20 - 19. A well taken penalty then put Mull 23 - 19 up when a run started by David Downham put James McPhail into space where his strong running enabled him to score, making it 30 - 19. The visitors then started to slow down as Mull piled on the pressure for James to Score once again for a final score of 37 -19. The team was as follows. 15 James MacPhail (capt) , 14 Shaun Olsen, 13 James Gibbons , 12 Tom Lines, 11 David Downham, 10 Aladair Whyte, 9 Crawford Whyte, 8 Alex Craig, 7 Stu O 'Donnell, 6 Ben Wilson, 5 Derwin Hewitt, 4 James Greig , 3 Colin MacKellar, 2 Gerry Ralston, 1 Calum MacDonald. Replacements from Donald Morrison, Robbie Strachan, Ben Bolton, Josh Martin Mull v’s Braidholm - Sat 17/12/05 Result lost 17 - 22 A great game with Mull showing they can play to a high standard against opposition with a reputation. Fine weather meant it would be a fast game and the opposition made an early lead with a penalty in the first 2 minutes. Then Mull took control and spent a concerted effort in the oppositions half. Alasdairs kicking couldn't put Mull back on level terms, but David Downhams running & strength made a try. Despite heroic tackling for which Mull is nowing gaining a reputation, the visitors scored & converted. Then just before half time they made a second try to put Mull 5 -17 behind. Crawford Whyte showed good sniping & recovering skills, with the forwards rucking & mauling to win plenty of possession. David Downham put Mull back in contention with another great deceiving run to score in the corner, but Braidholms pressure forced another score to make 10 - 22. James Campbell showed that, given space, he can make ground through the opposition & scored near the posts to put Mull back in the running, at 17 - 22, but time ran out for Mull to make any more scores. Here's their report on the game :- Fairbairn returns to cement win against Mull -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Braidholm opened the scoring early on with a Scott Carson penalty, directly under the posts, quickly followed up by a pushover try by Dominic Kellock duly converted by Scott Carson. Mull hit back immediately with an unconverted try in the corner. Braidholm continued to press and were rewarded with a Scott Carson try duly converted by himself. A tense and close first half ended with the score 17 - 5 to Braidholm. The importance of scoring first in the second half was the basis of the half time talk, which unfortunately didn't work - Mull opened the scoring with a converted try to make the score 17 - 12. Braidholm applied pressure and Roddy Lawson made the break to score in the corner. Mull immediately replied with yet another try in the corner. Fifteen minutes to go enter coach Kenny Fairbairn (Braidholm coach, Glasgow Under 18 coach, after at least a 10 year absence), average age of team immediately increased from 18 to 30. Mull put Braidholm under intense pressure who survived the last fifteen minutes no thanks to Kenny's tackling and him creating two turnovers and the genuine spirit within the team. Final Score :- Mull 17 - 22 Braidholm Many thanks to Mull for their great hospitality and sportsmanship!! Can anyone send me a result & report for this away game? Result win 7 - 13 Weather conditions were perfect as Mull travelled with a squad of 18 for the Argyll derby match with Mid Argyll. The pitch at Kilmartin was probably in as good a condition as it gets as Mull kicked off with the advantage of both the slope and light breeze. It was soon evident that it was going to be a battle of styles as Mid Argyll played to their traditional forward strenght and kept it tight, and Mull tried to play a bit wider using the backs to run the ball up . Mid Argyll's heavier forwards had the edge in the scrum and the better of the lineout exchanges which meant Mull were playing with limited possession however good tactical kicking from stand off Alasdair Whyte kept most of the play in the Mid Argyll half and some good carrying from centre Tom Lines and skipper Jim MacPhail kept the pressure on the home team.Mull finally took the lead ,after some long range penalty misses, when player-coach James Greig finished of a series of mini rucks by popping up out wide and galloping over the line for the opening try. Alasdair Whyte failed with the conversion.The second Mull try came soon afterwards when centre James Gibbons showed his footballing skills by kicking through the home defence and following up to score in the corner. Again the conversion was missed but the halftime whistle blew with the score Mid Argyll 0 Mull 10. The second half started in the worst possible way for Mull when a speculative kick by the Mid Argyll stand off took a wicked bounce in the Mull 22 , beating the covering MacPhail and David Downham to fall into the hands of the Mid Argyll centre who touched down near to the posts. A simple conversion made it Mid Argyll 7 Mull 10 with 35 minutes to go.The Mid Argyll forwards had their tails up now and the Mull defence was under a lot of pressure from a series of driving mauls and blindside breaks as Mid Argyll tried to muscle their way to the try line. There was outstanding defensive work from the whole Mull pack with the fast improving Donald ( Mong) Morrision having a massive game, along with his back row collegues of Alex Craig and Ben Wilson. Coach Reay Whyte brought on Fraser MacGowan for Colin MacKellar who'd put in a hard shift at tight head, the maverick Robbie Strachan replaced the tiring Derwin Hewitt who had competed well in the second row and Donald ( Budgie) MacIver came on at full back with Jim MacPhail moving to inside centre to replace Tom Lines who'd had his best game since joining Mull. After soaking up the pressure Mull did work their way up the field and Alasdair Whyte stretched the lead with a penalty and then survived a driven maul over the line when the referee rightly did 'nt allow a try as the ball was not touched down properly. The final whistle went with Mid Argyll camped in the Mull half but unable to breakdown the resolute Mull defence.This was a win which showed great character from the Mull players and will need to be repeated if Mull are to gain anything from the long trip to Maybole to play Carrick next week. Team list :- 1 Calum MacDonald 2 Donald (Smolt) Morrison 3 Colin MacKellar 4 James Greig 5 Derwin Hewitt 6 Donald(Mong) Morrison 7 Ben Wilson 8 Alex Craig 9 Stu 0'Donnell 10 Alasdair Whyte 11 Shuan Olsen 12 James Gibbons 13 Tom Lines 14 David Downham 15 Jim MacPhail (capt) Replacements : Fraser MacGowan , Donald MacIver , Robbie Strachan Result lost 50 - 7 While the cold snap shut down most of the Scottish rugby programme, the pitch at Garmony and the weather conditions were perfect for the visit of the university team. Due mainly to players being unavailable, rather than injury, Mull did struggle to raise a full team and its thanks to the persistance of Jim MacPhail and Alex Craig that Mull took to the field with 15, with veteran Garth Reade being recruited late on Friday night. Unfortunately no replacements were available. The first half followed the pattern of Mull, with the majority of possession, working hard to gain ground, and the university backs clinically converting turnover possession into points.Mull did manage to score when the captain Jim MacPhail crashed over the line following some concerted pressure by the forwards, and Alasdair Whyte converted. In the second half the university side secured more possession as Mull tired and ran in some more tries despite Mull never giving up. The final score of 50 - 7 was not a fair return for the effort shown by Mull , though Strathclyde's backs on this showing will be a handfull for anyone in the league. Mull coach Reay Whyte commended his team for their efforts and urged them to improve their individual fitness levels, as well as attending Tuesday night training sessions. Result win 17 - 7 Playing with the wind, Mull put the pressure on the visitors from the start but points eluded them. A drop goal and a penalty were missed , so it took some great stealing in the line out by James Greig followed by a determined drive by Alex Craig to score the first try. Alisdair Whyte converted and Mull kept on the pressure until half time. Almost immediately after the start, scrumhalf Crawford Whyte made a gallant effort to rescue the ball from a collapsed maul which allowed that man Alex Craig, to drive through for a second try. Again Alisdair used his kicking talent to make it 14 - 0. Then there was a lull in concentration and the visitors forced Mull into a corner, but great ripping from a maul by Robbie Strachan saved the situation. Further inroads were made including several attacking breaks by Gerry Ralston. The visitors then managed a score but lineout dominance and several scrums against the head kept the score to 14 - 5. A penalty made the score 17 - 5 by the final whistle. Squad list 1. Colin McEller 2. Callum McDonald 3. Gerry Ralston 4. James Greig 5. Robbie Strachan 6. Stuart O’Donnel 7. Ben Wilson 8. Alex Craig 9. Crawford Whyte 10. Alisdair Whyte 11. Sean Olsen 12. James Gibbons 13. Tom 14 David Downham 15 Donald McIver (Budgie) subs - Josh Martin, Frasier McGowan, Ben Bolton pink brolly looks a bit suspect Duncs!!
Result lost 27 - 15 The side went with 13 but were fortunate to collect Duck initially as a spectator, who ended playing after some encouragement. Mull started well and were close to the opposition try line for 20 mins but could not force a score. Glasgow Uni then managed to score against the run play and converted making 7 - 0 Some penalties were missed then a penalty was scored making it 7-3 Mull then lost concentration allowing the opposition to score just before half time 14 -3 The second half Mull were back strong for the initial 20 mins and saw Derwyn Hewitt score his first try for Mull breaking tackles close to the line. An “Up and under” followed by good work from Duck and supported by James Gibbons allowed Mull to score and to take the lead 14 - 15 However, extra numbers and good use of subs gave the away team the advantage required and allowed them to finish strong to finish 27-15 Scorers were :- James Gibbons 1 try, 1 conversion 1 penalty and Derwin Hewitt - 1 try This game saw a good debut performance from Colin Morrison & strong tacking in the backs, particularly from DJ & James McPhail. The squad fielded 4 of its “under 18’s” - Josh Martin, Callum MacDonald, Crawford Whyte, Sean Olson who all put in good performances. Squad list 1. Colin McEller 2. Josh Martin 3. Callum MacDonald 4. Derwyn Hewitt 5. Colin Morrison 6. James Greig 7. Ben Wilson 8. Stuart O’Donnel 9. Crawford Whyte 10. James Gibbons 11. Sean Olsen 12. James MacPhail 13. David Downham 14 Donald MacLelland (Duck) Home match v's Orkney RFC - Sat 8th Nov 2005 Result: Lost Mull 9 -- Orkney 41
Click here if you wish to print the team pic (higher resolution) Home v’s MacLaren -- lost 29-17 Tries from James Gibbons, James McPhail, Tom Allcock Away v’s Braidhome -- lost 29-0 A close first half, but injuries allowed the opposition to dominate during the second half. Away v’s Clydesdale -- lost 12-9 After leading 9-0 at half time, a disallowed try by James Gibbons and the wind advantage told and allowed the home side to recapture the lead. 
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