Oban 12 Cumnock 8 Senior rugby report 05/09/09

Cumnock travelled to Oban for their first away fixture of this season. Last season this fixture resulted in a massive win for the experienced Oban side who have gained a reputation for strong and direct forward play. However, Cumnock’s young guns were encouraged by their competitive start against Strathendrick last week and were determined to build on this to record their first win.

Cumnock started brightly with some intelligent kicking pinning the home side back in their own half. Smart line out work made space for stand-off Kyle Johnson to kick across the field for winger Gregor McMillan who gathered the ball and shrugged off Oban’s despairing defenders to score in the corner. Johnson missed the conversion from the touchline.

This try seemed to wake Oban up with powerful runs from the large back rowers although their Cumnock opposites, Alan Smith and Stuart Hunter managed to cope with the increasing pressure. However, Cumnock caused themselves problems by giving away some soft penalties which made it impossible for them to clear their lines with a well organised Oban maul resulting in the equalising try.

The next spell of the game saw Cumnock putting pressure on their hosts with some good work from centres Mark Bennett and Alan Haynes causing their opponents problems, though they couldn’t break down the stubborn defence enough for a real scoring chance. Another positive for Cumnock was their much improved lineout with Paul Millar and Blair McMillan working in tandem to supply plenty of good ball for the young backs.

The second half started well for Cumnock with the referee finally spotting one of the many blatant attempts by Oban to kill the ball, giving the away team a chance to regain the lead. A composed Johnson slotted the kick despite the increasingly strong wind.

Like the first time Cumnock scored, this just seemed to spur the home side on and once again their forwards took control of the game as conditions started to favour them with the rain slowing the pitch and making handling difficult for the more adventurous Cumnock side. The home side benefited from the referee giving them the greater benefit of his doubt. Sustained pressure eventually led to Oban crashing over despite many heroic tackles from the smaller defence.

Cumnock rallied and a series of scrums deep in Oban territory led to Tony Foster and Scott Houston going close. However, robust defence as well as some impatience from Cumnock meant that Oban managed to hold on and clear their lines. Oban put their experience and size to good use as they kept the ball tight and played the clock down. The game ended in controversy as the referee finally blew for full time on a Cumnock penalty although, in truth, it would have been remarkable if anything had come of it as the penalty was awarded on the Cumnock try line, at completely the wrong end of the field.

Despite being on the wrong end of a narrow score line for the second successive week, the young Cumnock side could take a lot from this attritional game against a team who had expected a comfortable victory. Cumnock picked up a bonus point for finishing within seven points of the winners which was some consolation.
Man of the match was Blair McMillan for a hard working performance as well as an impressive lineout display

Team
Craig Greer, Paul Millar, Donald Hunter, Kevin Brady, Blair McMillan, Stuart Hunter, Alan Smith, David Kerr, Scott Houston, Kyle Johnson, Gregor McMillan, Mark Bennett, Alan Haynes, Tony Foster, Conner Nisbet, Graham Hunter, Craig McWhirter, John Ferrans

Next week, Cumnock take on Paisley at Broomfield, kick-off 3pm

Thanks to David Kerr for report.

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