Cumnock Under 17’s 68 Dumfries Under 17’s 14

Cumnock Under 17’s produced a resounding victory in their final warm up fixture before the start of their league endeavours next week. The home team meant business from the kick off and opened their account after only four minutes with a well taken try from No 8 Craig Greer who powered over the line from short range. On form stand off Kyle Johnson followed up within minutes as he teased the Dumfries defence with a show and go to score under the posts. A careless pass gifted Dumfries with their only try of the first half and highlighted the need for accuracy as the new season commences.
There followed a passage of play for which Dumfries had no answer as the Cumnock back line consistently exploited gaps to rack up four tries in quick succession – a second for Craig Greer, two from flying winger Tony Foster and one from Mark Bennett. All six tries were converted by Kyle Johnson, taking the half time score to 42 -7 in the home sides favour.
Dumfries returned to the field with a revised game plan which involved tying the ball in and restricting access to Cumnock’s back line. While this was good advice and resulted in more competitive play it did little to halt the scoring onslaught from Cumnock. A further try from Craig Greer completed his hat trick for the day. From the restart, Cumnock took the ball to the defence and some excellent support play from Craig McWhirter saw him on hand to finish off another fine example of flowing rugby. A stolen ball from the back of a scrum caught the Cumnock defence napping and allowed Dumfries their sole try of this half.
The next move saw Mark Bennett look as if there was no way through the Dumfries centres. A retrieved up and under fell perfectly into Bennett’s hands, was fed via Ross Black to a speeding Gavin Kerr who outstripped his opposite man for a well deserved score in the corner. In the dying minutes of the game Cumnock rounded off their performance with a try from full back Conor Nisbet who took his opportunity with ease. Nine of the ten tries were converted bringing the final tally to 68-14 to Cumnock.
Man of the Match was Alan Haynes whose work rate and industry both on and off the ball was outstanding. This week will see Cumnock Under 17’s make their final preparation for their tough opening league fixture against Ayr next Sunday. Coach Alan Hall said after the match “ There were some moments of brilliance this afternoon but the boys will need to maintain this high octane performance next week and erase lapses of concentration. Ayr are a well drilled outfit and any errors on Cumnock’s part will be punished.”