Cumnock 29​ Kilmarnock 5

Report by Ian Park

Kilmarnock kick the game off and it was clear that they intended to play much of their game through their forwards. The opening five minutes or so was a messy affair until nerves were settled by Jack Reilly intercepting a slack pass just inside his own half and sprinting to the line for the first try. Cumnock maintained the pressure after the restart and pegged Killie back, deep into their half with Reilly again scoring this time from closer range with a quick tap penalty from 5 metres out, the extra points were good this time for the Nock to go into a 12 - 0 lead.

Kilmarnock came back at Cumnock before the end of the half and good defence from the Cumnock pack limited Killie to the one score before the break to make it 12-5 at half time.

Cumnock started the second half a bit brighter than the first where they had toiled a bit but the game certainly didn’t lend itself to free flowing rugby. Cumnock continued to press the Killie defence and looked to be the more clinical when in the Kilmarnock half and managed three more tries, all from similar distance, in the second half. Allister Elliot with the first spotting the gap from a ruck, then Michael Anderson from the back of a scrum and finally Aiden Kerr from penalty to make the final score 29-5.

The score belied that fact that it was a competitive game Cumnock having to work hard for the scores but equally their defence was very strong as Kilmarnock had arguably the same amount of chances but were held at bay by a good defensive display.

The coaches were pleased to get the first win of the campaign and while it wasn’t a vintage performance the work rate and effort was excellent.

Team: Allister Elliot, Glen Young, Gavin Gilliland, Robbie McLaren, Bradley Smith, Calum Park, Ryan McCrone, Michael Anderson, Ross Donnelly, Gregor Aitken, Thomas Bowditch, Jack Reilly, Aidan Kerr, Stephen Robson, Conor Hunter, Andrew Harkiss, Scott Faulds