Cumnock RFC p7 team take to the field for their second game in about 15-16 months. A little short on players this week due to some isolating. 7 brave CRFC p7s took to the field welcoming Alfie and Ross who kindly stepped up from P6 team to help out.

The teamed welcomed GHA to Cumnock on an extremely hot sunny Sunday morning, GHA had an impressive 19 players against Cumnocks 9. Coaches decided to play 9 aside and split the game into 10 minute quarters.

Onto the first quarter, Cumnock made a start. It took a couple of minutes for both teams to settle into the game. It was obvious Cumnock was up against a very well drilled GHA side. With GHA scoring a few tries. Before Cumnocks John Caldwell got over the line and opened up the scoring for the home team. This first quarter we didn't see much rucking from both sides.

The second quarter picked up a little of speed with a fresh GHA team on the field. During this quarter the Cumnock players started to show signs of tiredness from the heat. Ryan Hodge showed no fear when up against some of the bigger players on the field executing some great tackles. Ellie Parker was always there to offer support. Overall rucking and tackling was a little poor from the Cumnock side but when they got that ball in hand they made some good ground. Ross opened up the kicking by chipping the ball over the GHA defence and made a run after it, almost catching the ball on the try line, he was just very unlucky that a GHA player got to the ball a split second before him. Great play from Ross.

3rd Quarter, Cumnock coaches let the team have their own team talk and decide how they were going to play the next 10 minutes. Unsure what was said but as soon as GHA kicked off Cumnock went straight into defence mode making it very difficult for their opponents to get through their line. Leo Queen and Arron McGrath holding that defensive line while there team mates stopped the well drilled and skilful GHA side from getting through. The heat was really starting to get to the team in this quarter. They looked exhausted but were still out there giving it everything they had. Aron Hewitt with his massive runs before being brought down helped the team gain a bit of ground. Ryan managed to get over the line for his second try to finish off this quarter.

After playing for a full 30 minutes. The team was not for giving up. Everybody had played their best under a scorching hot sun and it showed. During the team talk before moving onto the final 10 minutes all coaches wanted to see was the team have a lot of fun in this final quarter. And it looked like they did, Alfie got the ball in his hands making a little chip over the GHA team and blasting himself through the defence to catch the ball on its first bounce and sprinting over the line to score his try. A try worthy of international rugby.
A tired but not broken Cumnock side still pushing with everything they got. Bobby Kirkwood chasing down some speedy opponents and stopping them getting over the try line.

A well played game from the Cumnock side today. Against the odds every player playing a full 40 minutes. And should be proud of themselves.
Today's game one player stood out, not only did this player score 2 out of the 4 tries but he was making big tackles and was always on hand to support his team mates.
Ryan Hodge player of the match.

Well done P7s and a big thank you to Ross and Alfie for stepping up and helping out today.