Report by Martin Wallace
Cumnock kicked off and immediately took control of the game playing with determination and cohesion keeping Strathaven in their own half for most of the first half of the game.
Attack after attack was made testing the Strathaven defence which held up well keeping Cumnock at bay until Tyler Wallace taking the ball from the halfway line broke through and made a break for the line pulling in the defenders passed to winger John Watt who opened a space to make the pass to Kieran Vance to score in the corner. The conversion taken a metre from the touch line hit the post but was a good attempt from so wide.
Play at the breakdowns was more dominant by Cumnock, driving mauls and winning rucks as well as a competitive scrum which set up the play that allowed Logan Naismith to make a charge to score under the posts. The conversion was slotted between the posts by Wallace.
Strathaven put the pressure on in the second half with changes made they attacked wide pushing the tiring Cumnock side hard managing to score after finding a gap in defence.Sean Houston picked up the ball after making a fantastic tackle and made a run for the line but as he drew in the defender he was unfortunate as his pass to Wallace hit a returning Strathaven player and was deemed forward.
Strathaven just edged in the second half playing the ball through the hands to create gaps.Cumnock played with passion right to the end tackling hard to make the opposition work for each try.
The final score was Cumnock 7 - 19 Strathaven.
The whole team played very well throughout the game and showed improvement with their support play and breakdowns.Comments from the opposition coaches were very positive and the Cumnock team should be proud of their performance on the pitch.