Cumnock 19 Strathaven/Dalziel 16

Report by Morton Houston

This was a re-match against Strathaven after a defeat earlier in the season. The game was played in 3 20 minutes sections allowing plenty of time for substitutions to be made.

The first section was a very close fought affair with no scoring in the first 15 minutes. Eventually good Cumnock pressure told and scores came from Rob

Drummond and Vice Captain Wallace Findlay. Findlay also converted his score to give Cumnock a 7 nil lead at the break. Highlights of this period included the tackling of Hamish White on the wing who snuffed out 4 or 5 attacks. Kieran Murray in his first outing at scrum half also caught the eye due to his constant harrying of the opposition scrum half.

The second period was a different affair as Strathaven/Dalziel turned round with the wind at their backs. Some poor Cumnock tackling allowed the visitors to get back into the game through 2 scores straight through midfield. Cumnock seemed to be under the cosh before Captain Andy Houston scored followed by an amazing score from Wallace Findlay. As the defending stand off tried to clear the ball from his line Findlay charged the kick down and unbelievably caught the ball before plunging over. There was also a dazzling run by Evan Smith which saw him stopped inches from scoring.

In the last section the game ebbed and flowed. The visitors scored first through a long range breakaway before Cumnock pulled one back through Jamie Drummond who was injured whilst scoring. Strathaven/Dalziel scored once more to tie the game leading to a nail biting finish. With 3 minutes to go Cumnock set off in a sweeping move with ball finally reaching Dylan Chidwick who outstripped the defence to score the winner.

Coach Alan Montgomery commented after the game, “This was a good performance but still with a lot of mistakes. We dug in well and had some great runs. We also had some great tackling. However ironically it was tackling that caused us the most problems with some key missed ones leading to soft scores. However it was still a good win and an improvement on our last game against Strathaven.

Next week: Training at 6:30 pm at Auchinleck Astro on Tuesday and 6:00 pm on Cumnock Astro on Thursday. The S1 team will be away at the SRU S1 festival on Sunday at Cumbernauld. Players should meet at 9:15 at Cumnock RFC or 11am at Cumbernauld Rugby Club. Please come changed, with warm clothing and a packed lunch.