Cumnock senior reports for Saturday 31st October

Wigtownshire 21 Cumnock 1st xv 17

Cumnock gave Wigtownshire a scare on Halloween but lost out despite leading for most of the game.
Last season Shire had beaten Cumnock by over sixty points both home and away so they were perhaps expecting another easy shift. However, Cumnock have taken huge step forward this season and hit the ground running against a shell shocked home side. Early breaks from Tony Foster and Alan Haynes asked questions of the defence and Alan Smith looked set to score until a desperate tackle dislodged the ball.
The early pressure eventually resulted in a penalty for Cumnock. The normally reliable Kyle Johnson mis-hit the kick and then his opposite number added a long range effort to give the home side an unlikely lead. However, Cumnock kept the pressure on their hosts with some impressive rucking against the much larger opponents. Another improved aspect of Cumnock’s game over the course of the season has been their line-out which was misfiring at the beginning of the year. However, the combination of Graham Hunter and Blair McMillan contributed a reliable source of possession and it was straight from a line-out move that Cumnock scored their first try. The ball was spun wide from the line out to Mark Bennett who drew his marker and popped to flanker David Kerr who beat the remaining defenders to touch down. Johnson added the extra two points and Cumnock had something to show for their impressive start.
The visitors continued to dictate the play, sticking to their shape well and keeping the hosts under pressure. Cumnock were quickly back on the score sheet when after some patient build up play, the ball was spun wide finding Craig Greer in space. Showing an impressive turn of pace for a prop, Greer sold some defenders a dummy and scored to extend his sides lead with Johnson again adding the extras.
Wigtownshire finally woke up and finally started to play some rugby using their large forwards to drive up the pitch and keep the ball away from Cumnock. Their stand off missed a long range penalty but the home side stayed patient and eventually managed to score with the last play before half time by using their bulk to push themselves over the Cumnock line.
The second half was a scrappy affair with both teams making mistakes and conceding soft penalties. For a long time neither team could make ay impression as both sides defence remained solid. However, Wigtownshire used their experience to keep hold of the ball where Cumnock tried to force the game to come to them, attempting several off loads and passes that weren’t really likely to come off. This impatience also started to show itself in defence as Shire added a penalty after a Cumnock off side. Johnson added a penalty to keep his side’s lead though both he and Bennett also missed a kick each.
Wigtownshire continued to dominate the possession and they added another penalty after yet another Cumnock offside to narrow the gap to a single point. The home side then scored the decisive try when a loose pass from Cumnock resulted in turnover ball for Shire and their managed to just get the ball down in the corner despite a tackle from Scott Houston. The conversion was missed but it was enough to give Wigtownshire the lead.
Cumnock tried to grab the try that they needed to over turn the deficit but time eventually ran out on them leaving them with their fifth game that they have finished less than seven points behind the opposition giving them a losing bonus point.
Cumnock have now reached the half way point of the season and firmly placed in the middle of the table. Hopefully the lessons that have been learned can be carried on for a successful second half of the league campaign.
Man of the match was Craig Greer for an impressive try and a hardworking shift around the pitch.

Team: Craig Greer, Graham Hunter, Donald Hunter, Kevin Brady, Blair McMillan, Alan Smith, David Kerr, Jamie Thomson, Craig McWhirter, Kyle Johnson, Tony Foster, Mark Bennett, Alan Haynes, Gregor McMillan, Conner Nisbet, Sean Fulton, Stuart Hunter, Scott Houston

Next week: The 1XV have a rest weekend but the 2nds are in action at home against Anniesland Hawks


Wigtownshire 2nd xv 21 Cumnock 2nd xv 17

(Yes same score).
Full report to follow

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