P4 vs Hamilton & West of Scotland (Home)

Cumnock’s primary 4 squad welcomed our old friends from Hamilton and West of Scotland to a sunny but breezy Broomfield for a great morning of rugby. Cumnock and West were both able to field 2 teams, with Hamilton bringing 1, ensuring lots of rugby was enjoyed by all.
Cumnock Reds faced Hamilton for their first match of the day. Despite the blustery winds Cumnock lined up and were keen to get started. Ryan started us off with a fine pass to Ciara who charged forward through Hamilton’s defence, she then made a quick offload to Alexander who continued the run to score the first of his well-deserved tries. Hamilton were quick to retaliate though charging up the wing to even the score. The teams were quite evenly matched, the ball moving from one try line to the other until half time. The second half started with Ciara powering through defence a number of times to finally be rewarded with her try. Aaron and Finlay using the spaces on the wing to sprint to the corners without a defender getting near them. Whilst Logan, Ewan, Leo and Alexander protected the middle defence, Leo also making some fine attacking runs. Hamilton were still exploiting gaps in the home defence to attack well with some incisive breaks. Ryan was on hand though with his mazy runs, dodging the defence to score a trio of tries. The highly competitive game finished 9-7 to Cumnock.
The Reds faces West 2 in their next game. Boosted from their first win they moved quicker and started to use the space more. West also started well and moved swiftly to test our defence. Ciara, Alexander and Logan making a number of important tackles to slow the West attackers down, but they still breached our defences to score early tries. Not to be deterred Aaron again used his speed and determination to break through for a fine try followed after by the irrepressible Ryan. Ewan made a great attempt to burst forward and when caught, quickly passed to Logan who offloaded to Finlay allowing him to find space and crash over the line in the corner for an excellent try. Ryan, Leo tested West defences with their quick footwork and side steps moving forward to gain important ground. Logan collecting up a loose ball charged forward to be stopped short of the line by a number of West defenders. The Reds didn’t panic though and probed well with good support play, before Ryan found a gap to sneak the ball through. Credit should go to Ciara again who put pressure on West again as she fought her way over the line dragging a couple of defenders with her! The game finished 8-5 to West 2.
The third game of the day was against another strong team in West 1. Having reflected on their previous game, the Red’s defence seemed to tighten up a bit, more players attempting tackles trying to keep West from crossing their line. Finlay was first to make a break for it up to the same corner to put Cumnock on the scoreboard. Alexander attacking with power and speed, unfazed by the West defence powered through for try after try notching up 5 in total! Logan leading the line pressed forward with Ewan, Ciara and Ryan close behind him making crucial tackles then Aaron on the ball again used his lightning speed combined with some super side steps to dodge a number of defenders earned himself 2 well deserved tries. Unfortunately, today West 1 were the stronger attacking team and used any gaps to their advantage firing back with their own brace of tries to finish the game 10-8 to West 1.
Cumnock Blacks lined up against West of Scotland 1 for their first game. West won the toss, opted to start with the ball and seemed to be out to showcase a slick passing game with every player receiving a pass before crossing the line to open scoring. Cumnock fired right back with captain for the day Kole setting off on a rampaging run with three players trying to bring him down before getting the pass to Ryan G to send him through in the corner. The Cumnock defence seemed to wake up from here with quick line speed putting West under pressure and creating turnovers through loose passes which were being eagerly dived upon by Murray, Kole and Ryan. This was letting the hot feet of Reiley, Lewis and Paul blaze trails through the West line time after time. West were not giving up however and fired back with two of their own. From here though it was all Cumnock with Reiley’s fast feet seeing him over more than once. Paul was also in fine form with a blinding run up the wing to score in the corner. Matthew was stopped just short but after getting the pass off to Kole he followed in support to take the offload and get through to finish the game an 8-3 win in Cumnock’s favour.
In the next game the Black team welcomed the second West team onto the pitch. This game seemed to start much the same as the first with West moving the ball well all over the pitch, getting them through for three consecutive scores. Cumnock kept on firing back though with some strong charges coming from Kole and Murray only just being stopped short. Ryan was showcasing his nifty footwork, seeing him over on more than one occasion. Lewis was finding his way over the try line with some dancing sidesteps to leave the West defence frustrated and keep the scores coming. Paul’s pace and strength were proving too much for West with him getting through after a skillful spin and dive for the line. West never gave up however and were constantly testing the tiring Cumnock defence with some great footwork and handling of their own keeping the game even throughout. Reiley and Matthew were turning in an impressive defensive performance with both making last ditched try saving tackles to cause crucial turnovers. This may have been the deciding factor with Cumnock capitalising on this with Reiley gathering a loose ball and jinking his way through to end the game a tight 8-6 win for Cumnock.
In their final game of the day Cumnock Blacks faced off against Hamilton. From the start Hamilton were looking determined with a few big runners making their way through for the first score of the game. At the restart Kole again was making his presence felt with yet another thundering charge taking 4 Hamilton players to stop him. This let Reiley loose into space and cruise over the line. Cumnock were now in their groove with Lewis, Matthew and Ryan all finding success to extend Cumnock’s lead further. In defence Cumnock were still having to work hard with Hamilton not letting off the gas in attack. Paul and Murray were ferociously defending the wings to force the opposition into touch and gain back possession. After a dropped ball midfield as a result from a strong tackle by Kole, Murray was on hand to gather and send a perfectly timed pass out to Paul who accelerated past the Hamilton defence to score in the corner and end the game a 7-3 win for the Cumnock team.
A super day of rugby saw all five teams playing some great stuff and scoring lots of great tries. The Cumnock sides both played well, competing hard against strong opposition. We continue to progress well although there’s still plenty to work on in training before next Sunday’s trip to Lenzie.
Red team – Aaron, Alexander, Ciara, Ewan, Finlay, Leo, Logan, Ryan M
Black team - Lewis F, Paul, Matthew, Reiley, Ryan G, Kole, Murray.
Report by E Gemmell & S Fulton