Ayr 23 Cumnock 9

Report by Morton Houston

Overall it was a decent performance with Cumnock eventually providing stiff opposition to a strong Ayr outfit.

The first half saw Cumnock playing well within themselves. There seemed to be a lack of conviction which translated into a nervy error strewn half. The game started with Cumnock being pinned down in their own half thanks to missed tackles and poor handling. However it was Cumnock that scored first as Rob Drummond intercepted from 2 metres from the Cumnock line before running the length of the park to score between the posts.

Rather than injecting some much needed confidence into Cumnock it instead seemed to spur Ayr on. For the next 15 minutes it was one way traffic as Ayr hammered away at the Cumnock line and gathered 3 tries for their trouble. Towards the end of the half Cumnock seemed to gain a bit more confidence and started to pose an attacking threat. Unfortunately a lack of control of the ball meant that no more tries were scored to reward the pressure.

In the second half Cumnock were a team transformed. The forwards decided to up their game and the backs had many threatening runs. To the fore in this was Cumnock livewire scrum half Adam “Killa” Watt. Watt turned over ball after ball whilst tackling everything that moved, the bigger the better. This earned him a joint man of the match award. The player who shared this was Rob Drummond who gave a master class in one on one tackling at full back.

Cumnock scored a much deserved try thanks to a typical powerplay from Jamie Drummond. This followed a bulldozing run by him and quickly recycled ball by the forwards as he was tackled close to the line. Drummond quickly pounced on the ball and drove over.

Cumnock continued to break the gain line and look to score. Dylan Chidwick, Matt Montgomery and Ross Briodie all had strong runs whilst Ashley Popowizc and Scott Wallace also started to figure more. Vice Captain Wallace Finlay had his usual 100% effort barnstorming display and was unlucky on a number of occasions.

Towards the end of the half the Cumnock team with no subs left started to tire and lost 2 late tries to make the final score 23 – 9 to Ayr.

Coach Alan Montgomery commented, “ The boys did themselves justice in the second half and looked like the team we know they can be. There was lots of good effort and skill on display that with a bit more control might have led to some more scores. Our poor first half lost us the game and we need to be able to play with intensity all the way through a game.”

Next week Cumnock are away to West Of Scotland. Training will take place at Auchinleck Academy Astro from 6:30 – 7:30 on Tuesday and Thursday. All new players are welcome to come along. For details call Morton on 07794 899515.