Stewartry under-18s’ hopes at Ardrossan Sevens were dealt a blow by an officiating error.
They felt they had won their semi-final against much fancied Ayr by 26 points to 24 and the Ayr players hanging their heads in dejection at the end of the game seemed to confirm this.
Marr also agreed Stewartry had won by two points and the Blacks came up with the same score but the assistant referee felt the score was 26-26. Despite protestations, extra-time had to be played and Stewartry lost by three tries to one, with Marr then convincingly winning the final.
Mar and Ayr both had at least 15 players to choose from with Stewartry only having a squad of 10 that included under-18 Scotland cap Joseph Strain who was back playing with his mates as most of the team played their last game for Stewartry Colts before moving on to senior rugby.
A great day was had by all despite the dispute. Scores, group stage: Stewartry 10 Strathaven 7 – Finlay Smith and Oskar Kapron with one Stewartry try each; Marr 35 Stewartry 10 – Finlay Smith and Frank Gwynne with one Stewartry try each; Stewartry 21 Cumnock 5 – Joe Strain, Finlay Smith and Ali Wood with one Stewartry try and conversion each.
Semi-final: Stewartry 26 Ayr 24/26 – Finlay Smith and Archie Nicolson with two Stewartry tries each; Joseph Strain with three Stewartry conversions.
