Stornoway Rugby Club (SRC) is looking to lift a major regional north of Scotland trophy tomorrow.
The senior men’s team are taking on Banff in the Caledonia North Bowl competition finals.
Saturday’s winner goes forward to the Scottish semi-finals of the National Bowl,
facing one victorious side from Scotland's other three regions.
Stornoway earned their place in this weekend’s major competition with a convincing
62-5 victory over Deeside in the semi-finals held in November.
Getting through to the finals is a massive achievement for the island club which has been training hard ahead of the match.
They had to wait until January for Banff to win 31 - 29 against Shetland for their
opponents to be confirmed. That fixture took place at Banff’s Duff House Sports Ground,
the same venue hosting Saturday’s battle.
Brimming with passion and determination, the Stornoway men’s team are travelling to Aberdeenshire for the big game.
Presently, they sit top of Caledonia North Two’s Highlands and Islands Conference with six wins out of seven games, and plan to replicate that success as they field a “strong squad” in the Bowl finals .
Club chairman, Christopher Adams, says reaching this stage is a testament to the hard work and dedication by players and the club’s coach.
“I am so proud of the boys. They have been superb this season.”
“We will have as strong a line-up as we could possibly imagine.
“We have a fighting chance. We’ve had a very good season so far and Darren Beattie, our coach, has the boys incredibly well drilled.
“We’re confident going on to the pitch against anybody that we can give them a good game and that's what we're looking at for tomorrow.”
He added: “We've had a very consistent line-up this season with only the odd change
here and there when players are away working offshore or on a work shift. Over the
course of the year, we've had celebrated for embracing the spirit of rugby in The
Famous Grouse series of short films - are flying off this (Saturday) afternoon on
the scheduled flight to Inverness.
Otherwise, they faced an early 5am wake-up call in the morning to catch the ferry
to Ullapool followed by a long drive.
“Realistically, we couldn't do that, because it’s a 1.30pm kick-off which we wouldn't
make in time.
“To give the club the best possible chance we’re going away tonight.
“The boys will get a good night's sleep, and we'll head off from Inverness at 10 o'clock and arrive in Banff around midday. That will give us 90 minutes to warm up.”
One player, Drew Maynard, is heading up from the opposite direction, taking a break from his studies in Glasgow to turn out for his home side.
The victorious team of tomorrow’s Caledonia North Bowl final will face the winner
of the Scottish Midlands region game in the national semi-finals in April.
Saturday’s match will livestreamed via Stornoway Rugby Club’s page.
Stornoway Rugby Club ready to battle it out in major north of Scotland final
14 February 2025
