Cumnock 64 Ardrossan/Garnock 5

Report by Ian Park

The pitch had held up remarkably well after the 1st XV’s win the previous day and along with the weather that cleared for much of the time giving bright sunshine, this allowed for a much better game of rugby than was anticipated.
Cumnock started strongly forcing their way up the park until the ball finally zipped through the backs hands for Alex Smith to score in the corner. The second score quickly followed with a trademark blast through the middle by centre Bradley Smith. A cheeky third was next as scrum half Aiden Kerr disguised a tap penalty to launch a perfectly weighted cross field kick to winger Alex Smith for his second try. Not to be outdone, number ten Gary Balmer tried another from open play for Calum Park to run on to and score the forth, Park converted his third of the day to make the score 26-0. Michael Anderson then forced the ball over from close range to make the score 31-0 at half time.
While Cumnock were well in front, the game was more of a contest with AG’s forwards dominating scrums and the rucks were well contested, however the Nocks handling, tackling and variation in set plays were troubling the opposition.
The second half was much of the same Cumnock’s forwards, while second for once in the scrum, were more than holding their own in open play taking on the ball to draw AG in before unleashing the ball to the backs who were patiently waiting for opportunities to run the ball.
The first score of the half came from Bradley Smith who again broke through the space to score. The try’s kept on coming with Dale West on the end of a slick backs passing game. Bradley Smith then broke from deep running up the heavy side of the park to outstrip the AG defence before passing to Conner Hill who supported his run, Park converted for his third conversion of the half to make the score 52-0.
Cumnock’s good work continued with scrum half Sean Houston breaking on the blind from the back of a scrum to make 20 yards before a clever offload to Gavin Gilliland who raced through to complete the score. From the resultant kick off Dale West gathered the ball and completed a rampaging run to score under the posts, which Balmer dropped over for the extra points.
A lot of credit must go AG who never gave up and as Cumnock were looking to close the game, AG powered up the park pressuring the Nock defence for the first time to score late in the game to make the final score 64-5
Cumnock completed the game and the last two scores with 14 men due to persistent penalties in rucks, which will need to be sorted out but its getting harder for the coaches to criticise the boys due to the results but the hard work needs to continue in order to progress.
Team: R McLaren, J Smith, T Grierson, S Faulds, G Gilliland, D McCulloch, M Anderson, A Kerr, A Birrell, G Balmer, C Hill, B Smith, C Park, D West, L Andrew, A Smith, T Bell, R McCrone, R Donnelly, T Wallace, L Naismith, S Houston