Home To Whitecraigs & Cambuslang

This week we had a very exciting home fixture against 2 excellent opponents in Whitecraigs & Cumbuslang.

Black Cougars v Cambuslang B (The Adam Standring Trophy) 11-1
It looked like a soaking wet start but by the time the Blacks roared into action – the sky cleared and it was dry conditions for Game 1. The Blacks lined up strong with Kyran in the middle supported by Daniel, Adam K, Rudi, Harvey with Alfie, Neil and Aaron making the 8 with usual rolling try-score-sub. The Cougars did indeed roar straight into this one and quickly tackled and tussled their way into a 4 try lead with Alfie and Daniel opening the scoring with Neil and Kyran diving over before Cambuslang had chance to respond with their own well worked try. The slippy conditions didn’t seem to stall the Cougars and strong tackling and teamwork from Harvey and Rudi in the middle with Neil making a few try saving tackles opened up the space for Aaron to sprint to a double and Adam K crashing through to make final score 11-1 in a convincing display of teamwork.

Black Cougars v Whitecraigs (The Cara Cup) 8-8
A tough , very well matched game with a much improved Whitecraigs Team seen a try-for-try tussle with the speedy Whitecraigs team challenging early on to race into a 2 try lead, but dancing run from Alfie followed by speedy sprint from Aaron levelled the score – again Whitecraigs went ahead but Rudi, Neil and Daniel battled strongly on our own try line to drive Whitecraigs back and Kyran crashed through to level things again and it was try-for-try till end of this encounter with Adam K battling hard to cross late into the game topped off by Harvey who jinked through to dive across and level the score 8-8 – a close run thing.

Black Cougars v Cambuslang A (The Charlie and Ewan Challenge) 8-8
The big game of the day for the Blacks was against the A team for Cambuslang and it was a nail biter for the Cougars and the parents! A hard tackling, encounter with their runs met with ours as Kyran’s big charges were met by Oscar from Cambuslang – clash of the titans in the middle as they each powered through to get the scoreboard moving, Neil bravely putting himself on the line 2 yards from his own try line and Aaron sprinting in zig-zags trying to find a way through the narrow gaps and Alfie doing likewise, Harvey proving hard to handle and Daniel diving on every loose ball, strong running and tackling from Rudi in his first game back and usual high work rate and string running on outside from Adam K all contributing to the tightest game of the day with the score finishing a draw. Strong day for the Blacks with lots of amazing play and plenty to build on for the next match against bruising Biggar next week.

Red Cougars v Cambuslang A 9-9
As the Red team started off the day the rain was still coming down from all angles but as the match livened up the rain began to die down. The Reds piled in and started strong against a very well disciplined and hard drilled Cambuslang team. Jake got us on the scoreline first and followed with another 2 and we really did show that we have been working hard on the tackling and defence. Ross had 3 of his own, Calleigh with 2 and Dani with a single and again we were able to dominate the attack but each and every time we did Cambuslang brought the match back to us. The tackles were raining in thick and fast from everyone and as Euan was marshalling the defence he and Stuart were able to keep everyone in line and the whole squad worked together to get an even scoreline for 2 very even and well matched teams.

Red Cougars v Cambuslang B 10-7
Our next match was up and ready very quickly. Again both teams were battle hardened but it was the constant pressure in defence that Cumnock Reds were able to apply that really was the difference in turning this match onto our way. Danny, Stuart, Ross, Euan & Jake were our try scorers but Jack & Calleigh’s defence was able to ensure that each and every time we stood up to an attack Cambuslang were having to make 6 or 7 moves just to move forward a few paces. As our players moving forward we were taking each tackle in our stride and moving the passes onto our next player who would again keep turning the screw and progressing up the pitch. Danny was able to brush off 4 tackles in one move on his way to the try line and his team mates were always there in support to ensure even if the unlikely happened and he was stopped we would pass and move all the way. A Cumnock victory in this match never seemed unlikely.

Red Cougars v Whitecraigs 7-6
The final game of the day for the Reds was against Whitecraigs. We were able to use both Cambuslang matches to be able to zone in our attack and defensive lines. Whitecraigs were able to send on 4 fresh replacements after each play due to their numbers however it was the teamwork from our Cumnock heroes who were able to make it our match once again. Stuart was able to sidewind his way through the defence to score on 3 occasions and each time he broke through the tackles his opponents were left in his wake. Jake and Ross both bagged another double each and on doing so left all the fresh footed Whitecraigs players wondering what happened. Jack saved 2 tries with crunching tackles of his own and Calleigh powered through the defence to hand on the forward momentum time and again and as always Euan was there to keep our challengers at bay and brought the close match to a close for another stunning Cumnock victory.

Dream Team:
Aaron, Ross, Jake, Stuart, Calleigh, Euan, Dani, Jack, Alfie, Neil, Adam K, Daniel, Harvey, Kyran & Rudi.

Overall Score: Cumnock 53 – 39 Opponents