Kilmarnock Under 18’s 34 Cumnock Under 17’s 33

Gearing up for the new season, Cumnock Under 17’s have been in action twice this week in friendly fixtures. A hard fought, 33-12 victory against a well drilled Carrick Academy senior team on Tuesday night laid down a marker for the style and standard which will be expected of this team if they are to fulfil their potential in the coming season.
This fixture against Kilmarnock’s Under 18 was a further example of what lies ahead. Cumnock battled valiantly against a substantially bigger team in the first half but with no reward for their efforts. As the half time whistle blew, Kilmarnock exited the field with a comfortable 24-0 lead, having capitalised on their scoring opportunities as they arose.
Kilmarnock would have been forgiven for thinking they were playing a different team from the restart. The half time team talk had clearly achieved its desired effect as Cumnock resumed play on the attack. From a scrum in their own half, Cumnock won the ball against the head and executed a well rehearsed move to draw in the Killie defence and free Conor Nisbet to score Cumnock’s opening try. The conversion was slotted over with ease from the touchline by Kyle Johnson.
From the restart, Cumnock were immediately on the offensive. A scrum on the halfway line saw Cumnock thread the ball through their back line to scrum half Scott Houston. Houston deftly chipped the ball over the Kilmarnock full back for a certain score when he was taken out off the ball. The referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try which was again converted by Johnson.
Kilmarnock fought back and followed the same pattern of feeding the ball to their comparatively huge forwards to crash over for an unconverted try. Cumnock responded straight from the restart and quickly advanced through a combination of strong forward play and silky running from the back line. An infringement on the 10 metre line resulted in a Cumnock penalty. Man of the Match Scott Houston took a quick tap, threw an outrageous dummy and sailed over the Kilmarnock line for his second of the match.
Cumnock had a sense of the tide turning at this point and the final twenty minutes of the game offered a glimpse of what could be for this talented young team. Winning the ball against the head, No 8 Craig Greer picked up from the base of the scrum and powered his way over to score. Johnson converted, bringing the tally to 29-28 with 10 minutes left to play. A further Kilmarnock forwards try nudged the score to 34-28 and with three minutes left, Cumnock dug deep as Houston thrilled the Cumnock support with an action replay of his previous try. In torrential rain and the kick from the touch line, Johnson narrowly missed the conversion. The final whistle blew recording a score of 34-33 in the home side’s favour.
Coach Morton Houston said after the match, “ Despite a poor start, gifting Kilmarnock with a 24 point lead, the boys fought their way back in to contention against an older and bigger team. There were many positives in today’s performance and this was a good opportunity to identify clearly areas for development.”