Cumnock travelled to Cumbernauld on Saturday for a top of the table clash, both sides had taken bonus point wins from their first two games and alongside Paisley sat at the top of the table on the maximum 10 points. Despite some torrential downpours midweek, the pitch was in a fairly decent condition and with the forecast pretty much clear for the game the spectators were in hope of seeing some silky-smooth running rugby.

Cumnock got off to a bright start and after claiming the ball from the kick off they set off up field to camp themselves inside the Cumbernauld half. A Cumbernauld infringement at the breakdown gave Cumnock the first chance at points with Jack Reilly slotting the penalty to give Cumnock an early lead. Cumnock looked comfortable in the early phases of the game whilst the referee was penalising Cumbernauld numerous times for being offside at the breakdown.

Cumnock were concerned after a few players went down early in the game disrupting their flow. Hooker Paul Miller had to be substituted early on after going over his ankle which meant Andrew McCrorie came on earlier than he had expected. The referee was quick to call ruck which meant neither side were given much opportunity to turn the ball over at the breakdown. A couple of silly infringements from Cumnock midway through the first half meant the next opportunity for points fell to Cumbernauld who kicked a penalty to level the scores.

Stephen Robson went over for a try after having a storming first half, the second row was a thorn in the side of the Cumbernauld with his cutting runs and general dogged defensive display. Robson scored to the right of the posts but the conversion was pulled meaning the score line stood at 8-3. There was controversy before half-time after a late hit on young stand-off John Watt which the referee deemed to be a yellow card offense meant Cumbernauld would go in at the break with 14 men.

The second half opened with a penalty for Cumbernauld after Cumnock tried to be a bit too clever at the breakdown with some Italian style antics, new laws around the rucks meant the referee deemed this offside which allowed Cumbernauld to bring the deficit down to just 2 points. However, Cumnock were quick to make up for their mistakes with a try in the corner for full-back Martin Thomson after some silky passing out in the backline. Jack Reilly missed the difficult kick on the far-right hand side of the field.

Connor hill later added to the scoring after Cumnock camped themselves deep in opposition territory and a lovely offload from Stephen Robson put the winger in on the blindside, the resulting conversion was missed but Cumnock had opened the scores to 6-18. Robson was on the other end of the referee’s whistle after some handbags on the other side of the field. Cumnock had successfully defended a Cumbernauld attack on their line with Robson being at the forefront with a steal at the lineout. The referee had blown for a penalty to Cumnock after a Cumbernauld infringement at the ruck when Robson reacted to something from the Cumbernauld team. No punches were thrown but the referee had had enough of the simmering tension and yellow carded Robson after deeming the second row to have got himself involved in too many of the handbag moments.

Cumbernauld managed a try from the possession resulting from the reversed penalty and duly converted it to bring the scores back to a 5-point margin. Cumnock didn’t panic and found themselves with a score for Calum Park after a clever back’s move found the outside centre in plenty of space to touch down for Cumnock fourth and all important bonus point try. Despite running in unopposed, Park didn’t leave Reilly with the easiest of kicks but after missing his last 3 the inside centre sent this one sailing between the posts to bring the scores to 13-25.

Reilly added to his points haul with a try of his own after breaking numerous tackles in the middle of the field to run in his own long range effort in the far-left corner, he was unable to add the extra 2 points. Connor Hill went over for his second try after the winger broke out from his own half to touch down underneath the posts. Martin Thomson added the extra points to bring the score to 37-13.

Cumbernauld were looking to have the last say in the match after bringing themselves right up the within yards of Cumnock’s try line. Cumnock’s defensive effort led by the hard-hitting tackles of prop Michael Anderson kept Cumbernauld out before a knock on from Cumbernauld brought the game to an end.

Cumnock will be pleased with how they finished the match but will know that the errors in the first half allowed Cumbernauld a foothold in this game. Cumnock’s back line may have scored 5 of Cumnock’s 6 tries but head coach Stevie Edwards was full of praise for the forward pack, splitting the man of the match award three ways between forwards Jayson McMillan, Robbie McLaren and Michael Anderson with all 3 men putting in a huge shift both in defence and attack. The bonus point win means Cumnock and Paisley now sit at the top of the West Division 2 table with the maximum 15 points from the first 3 games. This Saturday Cumnock host Uddingston in what could be the last senior game on the current Broomfield pitches as work on the new school looks set to begin. Kick-off is at 3pm and for those that can’t make it to the game you can get live updates via twitter by following @CumnockRugby.