Cumnock Cougars ventured up the A77 early on the Sunday morning to play their first tournament of the season at our good friends in Hamilton. The Cougar Cubs would be playing four games against Dalziel and Hamilton so we were sure to be treated to some fantastic rugby and we definitely were.
In the first game against Dalziel Cumnock started on the front foot and never looked back. With constant attacking flair and repelling every Dalziel attack meant Cumnock ran out 7-0 winners. There was some excellent attacking play from everybody in the team and with six different scorers it showed with some great support and everybody working as a team. Blair was charged with marshalling his defence and he rose to the challenge magnificently preventing Dalziel scoring a single try.
Into the second game and Cumnock started from where they left off in the first game straight into attacking the Hamilton Green’s try line. There was some fantastic play from Adam and John on the wings and some great support from Tilly and Iona in the middle of the pitch. Cumnock were unstoppable in their attacking and again fantastic defending from Katie, Blair and Ruben whenever Hamilton attacked. At the end there was an uncharacteristic momentary lack of concentration and Hamilton sneaked in a try right at the death meaning the score finished 8-1 to Cumnock.
Cumnock played Dalziel’s second team and were happy to let them attack first but forced a turnover and some quick passing let Riley bomb up the wing and get the first try of the game. Cumnock’s superiority was on full show with attacking and defence visible to everyone watching. Katie had an excellent run through the middle of the park only to be stopped on the try line but again with a quick pass to John supporting set the tone for the rest of the game and it finished 7-1 to Cumnock.
The final game was against Hamilton Blues and this was a much more open affair with some free scoring and defending on show. The tiredness was starting to set in to all players which allowed Hamilton to sneak in some tries from lack of concentration, but there was still some fantastic support play and good tries scored by Cumnock, final score finished 7-5 to Cumnock
The final score from all four games was 29-7 to Cumnock and the team consisted of Katie, Ruben, Tilly, Iona, John, Riley, Adam and Blair. Roll on the next tournament in East Kilbride next week.
Report by Gavin Winstanley