Cumnock picked up their first win of the season with an emphatic victory over Paisley at Broomfield. After narrowly losing their opening two matches, the side were determined to claim their first scalp against a Paisley side that had also lost their opening fixtures.
The game started positively for Cumnock with several powerful line breaks from both Cumnock backs and forwards and it was apparent that it was a case of when the first score would come rather than if it would.
The break came when Paisley were penalised for killing the ball after a break from the back of the scrum by Number 8 David Kerr (captain). Scott Houston took an offload and continued the forward movement before Paisley’s indiscipline. Cumnock took the penalty quickly with both Donald Hunter and Craig Greer committing defenders before unselfishly feeding Mark Bennett who crashed through the remaining defence to score. Kyle Johnson kicked the conversion.
Ferocious defence from Cumnock kept Paisley on the back foot with several crunching tackles from Stuart Hunter and Alan Smith meant that Paisley were unable to make any impression on the game. Another positive was the much improved line-out with Paul Miller regularly hitting his target, giving Cumnock’s backs free rein to run at their opposite numbers. Paisley had a player sin binned for a high tackle on Johnson who used the penalty to kick Cumnock deep into Paisley territory. Another smooth line-out meant that the backs had plenty of time to run a well rehearsed move to give Bennett a clear run to the line for his second try.
Johnson added the conversion and then a penalty when another Paisley high tackle meant another Paisley yellow card.
Cumnock made use of these indiscretions to run in a spectacular long range try with centres Bennett and Haynes slicing through the defence before feeding Stuart Hunter who drew the last defender and passed to Johnson who finished the move in the corner. He then stepped up calmly to knock over the kick from the touch line which trouble many international goal kickers.
The second half began with points from the reliable boot of Johnson when excellent pressure from Cumnock’s forwards resulted in a penalty. Paisley then made the mistake of kicking off straight to Bennett who showed the individual skill that has earned him a place in the Scotland Under 18 training squad by simply running straight through the Paisley defence to score his third. Johnson easily kicked the extras.
Paisley finally started to come into the game by slowing the game down and turning the game into a dull mix of scrums and rucks in order to prevent Cumnock’s backs from continuing to run riot. Disappointingly Cumnock picked a yellow card of their own when Rab Cross was sin binned, marring an otherwise impressive return to first team rugby.
Cumnock managed another try when Bennett made another trademark solo run to score his fourth try. Johnson reliably added the extras.
The rest of the game was spent mostly tight as Paisley set about making sure that Cumnock were unable to extend their lead. However, they never looked like scoring which meant that Cumnock were able to hold onto an impressive clean sheet.
Cumnock nearly added a sixth try after an excellent move with Gregor McMillan breaking down his wing before feeding Jamie Thomson who carried the ball forward before spreading the ball wide to the opposite wing where Tony Foster squeezed into the corner to score before being called back by the Paisley touch judge for having been in touch. Cumnock continued to pressure the Paisley line until the final whistle although they were unable to force their way over.
There several outstanding performances but the man of the match had to go to Mark Bennett for his four tries and for looking dangerous every time got the ball in his hands.
This was another very positive day for the young Cumnock team and if they continue to play the kind of free flowing rugby that they played in the first half especially then it will be hard for any team in the league to deal with them.
Team
Craig Greer, Paul Miller, Donald Hunter, Kevin Brady, Rab Cross, Stuart Hunter, Alan Smith, David Kerr, Scott Houston, Kyle Johnson, Gregor McMillan, Mark Bennett, Alan Haynes, Tony Foster, Conner Nisbet, Graham Hunter, Jamie Thomson, Martin Wilson
Next week Cumnock are away to Loch Lomond
Thanks to David Kerr for report
Cumnock chatboard link
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