Cumnock S1 11 Whitecraigs 28

Report by Morton Houston

So it was with great delight that Cumnock S1s headed to Glasgow to play Whitecraigs in their 3rd game of December. Despite heavy rains all through Saturday the boys were able to play their game on a wind swept but perfectly playable park.

Player numbers were a bit thin on the ground with a number of key players unavailable. However with a bare 13 players Cumnock received the kick off into a very strong headwind. Whitecraigs made the most of the strong wind advantage and the disarray in Cumnock’s backs caused by missing players. Despite a very good Cumnock effort Whitecraigs were able to use their speed out wide to score 4 unanswered tries.

In the second period Cumnock started to find their feet and a brilliant long range try from stand off Andy Houston seemed to hint at a comeback. Indeed Cumnock played some great rugby in this spell with Wallace Findlay and Jamie Caldwell both showing up well. The highlight of this period was a text book try saving tackle made by Kieran Owens on the wing. Cumnock did not have to look far for more problems as tackling demon, Owen Young, had to retire unwell closely followed by stand off Andy Houston with an injured hand. This meant Hamish White and Kieran Murray needed to step into stand off and centre where they played particularly well in positions they were unfamiliar with. Unfortunately Whitecraigs managed 2 more long range tries to leave Cumnock well behind going into the last phase.

The 3rd quarter saw a brave and skilful fight back by the remaining Cumnock players no more so than by Jamie Drummond who ran, dodged and smashed his way to 2 well deserved tries. Other unseen heroes included Ashley Popowisz and Matt Montgomerie for their rucking, Kieran Makin for winning balls on the ground and Evan Smith for his darting runs. Behind all this livewire scrum half Adam “Killa” Watt displayed his usually running and fearless tackling.

Coach Alan Montgomerie said after the game, “The score looks like we were well beaten but in reality the score was made much worse by our whole mid field being missing. Every player played well today and really tried hard from start to finish. I think they learned a lot which will benefit the team as we move forward.”

Next week: Training on Tuesday at 6-7pm at Catrine games hall and on Thursday at 6-7pm at Cumnock astro turf. Next Sunday there is no game or training