Birkmyre secure vital away win at Lochaber despite veteran call-ups

Lochaber 12 – 22 Birkmyre
Arnold Clark West Division 2
Saturday, 21 March 2026

Birkmyre picked up an important away win on Saturday. The road trip saw them travel all the way to Fort William to take on Lochaber, where they came out victors by 22 points to 12.

The game was close to not taking place as, on Thursday night, Birkmyre did not have sufficient front row players to field a team. However, thanks to some coaches and veterans stepping up, the match was able to go ahead, with 40-year-old Gareth Robertson starting in the number 1 shirt.

Birkmyre started the brighter of the two sides and, in the 2nd minute, won a penalty around 40m out in front of the posts. Stand-off David Cruickshank stepped up and slotted it over for three points.

The lead was fairly short-lived as Lochaber scored the first try of the match seven minutes later. Having won a penalty of their own 10m out, they took a “tap & go” and worked a score into the corner to give them the lead by two points.

The game ebbed and flowed for the next 10 minutes, however Birkmyre were gaining the slight upper hand. From a scrum on the halfway line, they worked the ball left and right down the pitch through multiple phases. Having made it into the Lochaber 22, they won penalty advantage. Jonny Davidson then took the initiative, chipping the ball over the defence from 10m out, and ran through to collect it and touch down in the corner. Cruickshank converted the difficult kick from the sideline.

Thirty minutes in, Birkmyre extended their lead further. From a “tap & go” penalty of their own, they worked the ball right from 10m out. The first phase set up an initial ruck, from where the ball was worked quickly to Cruickshank, who ran in from 5m out largely untouched.

After the score, Robertson came off and was replaced by 56-year-old club Vice-President Stuart Cruickshank, who is the father of David. He used his experience to outfox his opponent, half his age, in the scrum to secure a solid platform for the ‘myre to play from. There was no further scoring in the first half and Birkmyre went in at the break 10 points up.

It took until the 53rd minute before the scoreboard ticked over again, with Lochaber scoring their second try. Birkmyre had cleared the ball well downfield, however Lochaber were able to work it back into the 22 through a number of phases. Eventually, the defence gave way and a missed tackle let them through for the converted try.

In the 60th minute, Birkmyre recaptured their 10-point lead. From a solid scrum on their own 30m line, David Cruickshank drew the defence right, then threw a long pass wide left to centre Cammy Marr. With a splintered defence, he powered down the pitch, breaking three tackles to eventually touch down under the posts.

Both scores came with Birkmyre reduced to 14 players, with Owen Nicholas receiving a yellow card for a slap on the back. On his return, with a little over 15 minutes remaining, Cruickshank senior swapped again with Robertson, and tighthead prop Scott Little was replaced by 59-year-old Charlie Bristol-McLean, who normally only plays over-35s matches these days.

Five minutes later, the visitors thought they had secured the win, however Marr was judged to have been held up over the line. The majority of the remaining match was played in the Lochaber half due to a combination of good attacking and defensive play. As the clock went red, Birkmyre won a penalty and, after allowing the clock to run down, were able to kick the ball to touch to finalise the win.

The victory lifts Birkmyre to 4th in the league and they take on 8th-placed Uddingston at home this Saturday.

Photo Credit: With thanks to Fiona Wallace