P4 vs Cambuslang & Dalziel

Cumnock's primary 4 squad travelled up to Cambuslang on a dreich Sunday morning for a fixture that always produces great games. Dalziel were also attending so the day promised plenty of rugby for Cumnock's travelling squad of 13. Cumnock fielded 2 teams, Red & Black.
The Red team first faced a good Cambuslang side & immediately fell behind as the host club exploited weak tackling to burst through. Cumnock found Cambuslang's strong defence hard to break down while the Reds' failed to offer the same challenges to Cambuslang's piercing attack, allowing them to score regularly.
The Reds kept the hosts scoring low by maintaining possession well through good support play and slick offloads, Ewan often providing the link. As Cumnock probed for space Logan & Ciara drew in defenders, Aaron found a gap & his searing pace took him to the line for Cumnock's first try. Evan then barged his way over to score a fine try in only his second match.
In the second half the Reds tightened up their defence with Finlay and Ciara in particular, following Logan's lead. In attack Freya's pacy runs proved a constant threat, she was unlucky not to score, twice being tackled into touch as the line beckoned. Aaron added 2 further tries with superb breaks. Cumnock maintained their excellent continuity in attack, Ewan, Ciara & Evan all making ground, building pressure and going through phase after phase despite strong Cambuslang defence. Eventually their patience paid off as Finlay found a gap and took the opportunity well to score. Matthew, who replaced the unwell Aaron, showed some lovely footwork to dive over from close-range. A competitive game played in a great spirit ended 8-6 to Cambuslang with Cumnock left to rue missed tackles.
In their second game the Reds faced a big and talented Dalziel side. Unfortunately, the Reds' defence started poorly again, inviting Dalziel ball carriers to run straight through the midfield to score some soft tries despite Logan tackling himself to a standstill as he tried to plug the gaps.
Cumnock's attacking play remained a sharp contrast to the porous defence with great continuity and slick offloads bringing well worked tries for Finlay and a brace for Logan while Ciara was dragged down inches short and Freya was again unlucky not to score.
Cumnock again stepped up their defensive efforts in the second half, Ewan, Evan & Freya all making try-saving tackles while Logan and Ciara defended strongly in midfield. Freya, Finlay and Logan combined brilliantly in attack, regularly stretching the Dalziel defence to breaking as they surged forward with pace & power, creating gaps with quick offloads. This brought Logan another 2 tries and a well-deserved hat trick for Freya. Ultimately the first half deficit proved too much to overturn, Cumnock ultimately going down 10-8 in a pulsating game that produced some wonderful tries.
The Reds ended the day with positives far outweighing the negatives. While defence still needs work, their attacking play was excellent with great continuity, patience and flair shown.
First up for the Black side was a match versus Dalziel. The Blacks won the toss and straight from the offload Paul powered his way up the wing flying past the opposing defenders to get Cumnock off the mark. Now in defence the coaches were eager to see how the young Blacks would go against the bigger lads from Dalziel. Poised in the middle waiting the offload were Lewis, Kole, Mason and Murray who straight from the first pass hounded the Dalziel ball carriers deep into their own half. Tackle after tackle went flying in with Murray and Kole winning valuable turnovers. This seemed to be the theme of the match.
In attack, Mason and Lewis were keen to get in on the action with a couple of tries each. Mason simply too quick for the Dalziel defence and Lewis returning to his excellent sidestep leaving the defenders in his wake. Some excellent play in defence on the wings by Matthew got him a brace as well after dusting himself down following an early knock. Paul was running in try after try as the Blacks moved the ball across the pitch exploiting gaps in the Dalziel defence.
Some dogged work in defence kept the Dalziel attacks at a minimum. A disciplined polished performance from the Blacks who found some noteworthy praise coming their way from the opposing side, the game ending Cumnock 12 - Dalziel 2.
The next game for the Blacks was against hosts Cambuslang. Cumnock won the toss and opted to start with the ball. Again, Paul was off on a charge through the middle to open the scoring on the first play. In defence Cumnock were not willing to give Cambuslang room to breathe, timing their line speed to perfection, tackle after tackle knocking their opponents further back with Kole and Murray always there to gather any loose balls.
Paul's pace was proving too much for the opposition as he was notching an impressive tally of tries. Lewis, Matthew and Mason not to be out done managed to break through to add scores of their own.
In the second half of the game Cambuslang upped their game and seemed to catch Cumnock off guard letting the hosts get on the scoreboard themselves, this however, sprung the Blacks back into action with Lewis putting in some crunching tackles midfield forcing the turnover that saw Murray on hand to take the loose ball and wind his way through for a fine try in the corner finishing the game Cumnock 11 - 3 Cambuslang. A fine performance by the young Cumnock Blacks showing great discipline and teamwork
Red team: Aaron, Ciara, Evan, Ewan, Finlay, Freya, Logan
Black team: Lewis, Kole, Mason, Matthew, Murray, Paul
Report by S Benzie, J Leitch, S Fulton