2nds give polis a doing

Cumnock 2nd XV 44 - 12 Strathclyde Police 2XV

The 2XV welcomed Strathclyde Police to Broomfield on Saturday as the league campaign got underway in earnest. The visitors were a few players short due to work commitments, so 4 of the Cumnock squad volunteered to play for the visitors.
The game started well for the home side as they got into their stride very quickly, putting the police under a lot of pressure with good driving play from the forwards. The first scoring chance fell to the home side in the 4th minute when Greg Hamilton crossed the line, but it was called back for a forward pass. It was after some real pressure from the pack that Cumnock were awarded a penalty 5 metres from the police try line. The ball was tapped quickly and Rab Donald drove over for the first try, which was unconverted to take the score to 5-0.
The interplay between forwards and backs was great to watch considering the conditions, with both sides looking to run the ball at every opportunity. In the 15th minute, Cumnock were awarded a free kick for a scrum offence and the forwards took it on, with several players coming close, but it took the experience of Ian McCrorie to drive over for his try which Rab Donald converted to stretch the lead to 12-0.
The midfield of McPheators, Johnston and Barr were starting to orchestrate the play, supported by the back row of J Thomson, Hodge and Donald, and only dropped passes and excellent cover defence prevented the home side extending their lead. Steven Taylor capped a good all round diplay with his first try of the season in the 20th minute, sneaking over from a ruck on the line after some excellent play by the forwards. 17-0.
Rab Donald scored his second try of the game in the 23rd minute popping up to crash over and extend the lead to 22-0.
Martin Thomson was as solid as ever at full back and was always looking to attack whenever he got the ball. The ball was being passed around with every player looking to make ground, then offload to a supporting team mate. After one such passage of play, Jason Johnston crossed the line, but the ball slipped out of his grasp and the chance was gone. In the 33rd minute, the visitors got on the score sheet when the on loan Martin Hastings danced his way through the home defence to score a well worked try. This was converted and half time arrived with the home side ahead 22-7.
The Cumnock representation in the visitors ranks increased to 5 as Martin Wallace joined Martin Hastings, Barry Horton, Andrew Watt and Euan Laidlaw. The second half provided more of the same with both teams running the ball every chance they got. The game got a bit scrappy with a lot of passes not going to hand. Cumnock had been ringing the changes with several players getting well deserved breaks from the action and it was Mick Harkins who was the next player on the score sheet with a try following some excellent play from the forwards. After 50 minutes the score was 27-7.
Jason Johnston notched his first try of the season in the 58th minute with a well worked backs move. The police defence was being well tested by the home side as wave after wave of attacks were repulsed. The score had to come and Dougie Elliot profited after several players had been held up just short of the line. The kick was converted by Rab Donald to move the home side further ahead 39-7.
Both sides continued to attack, but the defences stood up well. James Hastie appeared on the right wing and used the men outside him as a decoy to crash over for Cumnock’s 8th try in the 67th minute. The difficult kick was misses, but the home side were now 44-7 ahead. Dropped passes prevented any further scoring by the Broomfield side although they continued to put several excellent moves into action. There was an encouraging debut for Kevin Lawler, who showed several neat touches and a willingness to go forward with ball in hand.


Squad: B Horton, Watt, Ramage, Linden, Harkin, Lawler, Seng, Barr, Hastings, Hamilton, J Thomson, M Thomson, Taylor, Wallace, McPheator, Johnston, Hastie, Elliot, Donald, Hodge, I McCrorie, A McCrorie, Laidlaw.

Saturday sees the 2nds travel to Giffnock to take on GHA Gazelles.

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