Cumnock Under 15s 19 Dalziel/Strathaven 12

Report by Morton Houston

Once more this produced a great game in challenging conditions as 2 well matched teams served up some great rugby. The pitch was wet and the ball slippy but this did not stop some great attacking rugby.

The game kicked off with Cumnock apparently in the driving seat as they launched attack after attack and looked good for an early score. However it was Dalziel/Strathaven who scored first as they turned over the ball in their own half and quickly counter attacked exposing some weak Cumnock tackling before scoring an unconverted try. Cumnock however quickly got back into the attack and following some great forward play Man of the match Jamie Drummond crashed over for a score converted by Owen Young.

Cumnock were performing strongly in the forwards with Jock Welsh, Jamie Caldwell and John McIlwain to the fore. The backs made some good inroads with Owen Young in particular running some good lines.

In the second half Cumnock came out strongly and scored a couple of quick fire tries. Robbie Stewart broke through in mid field and offloaded beautifully to Jock Welsh who scored in between the posts. The least said about the conversion attempt by Welsh possibly the better!!. The second came from Dillon Chidwick who latched onto pass before crashing through. There were terrific tackling performances by Hamish White and Rob Drummond which helped to keep the opposition at bay. With minutes to go however Dalziel/Strathaven scored a beauty from the half way line to leave the final score 19-12 to Cumnock.

Coach Mark Van Der Leest said after the game, “ I am quite pleased with the team’s performance after a long layoff. There was still some rustiness but a lot of our driving play and rucking was really good. Our scrum was strong but our lineout creaked a wee bit. Some weak tackling put us under pressure but we will address this at training through the week. All in all the boys should be pretty pleased with their performance.”

Next week Cumnock play Kilmarnock away.