Dumfries U16 12 Cumnock U16 47

Report by Ian Park

Right from the kick off Cumnock looked up for the game, having lost both fixtures against Dumfries last season it was always going to be a good yardstick to see if there was to be any improvement in the team. Any doubts quickly disappeared with 2 quick tries, the first through quick hands feeding Dale West to finish the run from his own half under the posts and a second from short range with Michael Anderson crossing the line when Cumnock seemed to be camped in the Dumfries 22. The second conversion attempt stuck the post which was to be the only conversion miss of the day for Cumnock.
Another typical run and try by West before half time stretched the lead to 19-0, however Dumfries replied before the whistle after pressing Cumnock back deep into their own half for the first time to make the half time score 5 – 19.
In the second half Cumnock continued where they left off from the first with the forwards securing good clean ball at the breakdown, making small gains and setting things up for the backs to exploit the space created. The first score of the half fell to Bradley Smith who gathered the ball in his own 22 and managed to break a couple of tackles to run the rest of the park and score under the posts. Moments later Smith was unlucky to be yellow carded as he slipped on the wet surface and took the attacking Dumfries player with his feet which the referee took to be deliberate.
Dumfries duly exploited the man advantage and scored again from short range. The Nock coaches made some changes to cover the hole at centre which paid off straight away with two tries in quick succession, the first from a break by Calum Park who again finished under the posts and the second from Conner Hill, from the aforementioned hard work by the forwards and quick hands by the backs.
By now Cumnock were controlling the game and a scum inside the Dumfries 22 allowed Michael Anderson to break from the number 8 position to score his second. With minutes left Dumfries made one more attack into Cumnock territory and pushed on towards the line but even five metres out and in the final minutes the Cumnock defence stood firm and denied the score managing to clear the ball to finish the game 12 – 47.
The coaches were pleased with the good win which shows that the boys are developing into a well balanced team and its getting harder each week to choose a starting XV as any changes from the sidelines do not detract from the teams performance.
Team: T Bell, G Young, J Smith, D McCulloch, T Grierson, G Gilliland, M Anderson, R McLaren, A Kerr, G Balmer, C Hill, B Smith, C Park, D West, L Andrew
Subs: A Birrell, R McCrone, A Smith, M McColm