HELENSBURGH’S young rugby players found the gap in experience just too much to bridge as they fell to defeat against Dunbar Grammar in the National Schools Under-16 Plate at Murrayfield.

The Lomond and Helensburgh squad travelled to the national stadium to face Dunbar Grammar in the final in front of a large and loud travelling support - but it was the East Lothian side who triumphed at The Hive, making the most of a strong start and showing some ruthless finishing as they scored eight tries on their way to a 50-0 victory.

Coach Iain Mackay said: “Thank you to all the supporters who took the time to come and support the team.

“The game couldn’t have taken place without the support of Lomond School and Hermitage Academy, and thanks to the club for the team breakfast and arranging the supporters’ coach.”

A Helensburgh Rugby Club spokesperson added: “The result may not have gone our way, but congratulations to the lads for making the final.

“We cannot fault the heart you showed, and you should be proud to wear the badge.

“Thank you to the supporters – especially Cammy with his percussion crutch!”

Dunbar opened the scoring after just four minutes through Isaac Anderson, with Aidan Smith adding a second try just a minute later.

Andrew Millar benefited from a well-worked line-out to dash over for the third score on 11 minutes, and though L&H regrouped and managed to stem the tide, Smith touched down for his second try just after the half-hour, with Dunbar adding a fifth shortly before the break, three conversions from Coel Pettet making the half-time score 31-0.

L&H were again forced to defend for long spells at the start of the second half, but Mackenzie Ramage, Callum Ross and Aiden McNels added three more scores in the 10 minutes immediately after the restart.

Due to competition rules, and a prior agreement between both teams, the scoring ceased at 50-0, with the match continuing as a friendly thereafter.

L&H: Samuel Devlin; Jake Atterbury, Luke Gibrat, Tom McLearn, Sean Wight; Adam Reaney, William Doyle (captain); Lee Matthew, Peter Low, Abdul Hameed Mohammed, Charlie Ward, Josh van Impe, Oscar Fury-Harland, Cameron Boswell, Taelor Smith. Replacements: William Mackay, Angus Caldwell, Calum Hall, Euan Bakker, Tom Matthews, Joseph Gonzaga, Harris McLean.

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Meanwhile, the Lomond and Helensburgh senior XV dug deep to secure a superb 27-24 win away to Strathendrick in West Division 2 last Saturday.

Ben Farrer and Nick Fish scored the two L&H tries in Fintry as the Grizzlies won on the road for only the second time this season, with Warren Smith’s boot adding the remaining 17 points as the visitors took revenge for their defeat at Ardencaple in the sides’ previous meeting in September.

The result keeps L&H in sixth place in the West 2 table and sets them up perfectly for their final league match of the year, when bottom club Paisley - the beaten side on L&H’s only previous away win of the campaign prior to the weekend’s game at Strathendrick - are the visitors this Saturday (December 16).

Kick-off at Ardencaple is at 2pm.