Cumnock Kilmarnock U16 Cougars 52 - Dalziel RFC U16 19

Report by Kevan Aitken

The home team started the game at a frantic pace and were soon driving for the visitors line. After some sustained pressure by the forwards it was no surprise to see Callum Bark powering over from the back of a ruck for the first score. This element of their game has really improved over the last couple of months and the Cougars were able to build a secure platform to provide the backs with some good quality possession. This resulted in four further tries before the interval, one from Ben Stewart and three from Jack Reilly, with Reilly converting three of his kicks to give the home team a comfortable 31-0 lead at the break.

In the second half the biting wind was behind the Cougars but it was the visitors that scored first, poor tackling allowing the large forwards to rumble up the middle of the park. From a ruck the Dalziel number eight was able to barge his way over for his teams first score, which was unconverted. The Cougars responded immediately taking the game deep into their opponents half and a fine break from Stewart saw him under the posts leaving an easy kick for Reilly. A couple of minutes later Stewart scored again and when Gregor Aitken finished off a nice move from the backs to score, both of which were converted, the Cougars had a 52-5 lead going into the final quarter.

The team then seemed to take their foot off the pedal at this point and it was Dalziel that started to look the more threatening, although to be fair the home team were forced into a number of positional changes as the injury list started to increase. Dalziel were also short of players and Reilly and Greg Forbes formed a centre partnership in mid-field for them and a determined break from Reilly with a good off-load allowed Forbes to score in the corner. In the final play of the game the Dalziel forwards managed to set up a good drive and scored under the posts which was converted to take the final score to 52-19.

In the end a good result, particularly as a number of players were playing out of position for much of the time. A big thanks also to the other boys that played for the visitors, namely Gavin Miller and Gavin Wight, which ensured that both teams were evenly matched in numbers.

Team: McEwan (c), R McLaren, Lorimer, Faulds, A McLaren, N Kerr, Bark, Harkiss, A Kerr, Reilly, Wight, Stewart, D Smith, B Smith, Bowditch. Subs Miller, Robson, Forbes, Aitken.