Cumnock Senior reports and results for Saturday 3rd October

Cumnock made the short trip to Ayr to face Millbrae in the league. Millbrae are an offshoot from the main Ayr club, mainly made up of former Ayr players who are still looking for a game at the weekend. As a result their side largely consists of older heads, the complete opposite of the Cumnock side, many of whom are playing their first season of senior rugby. This was always going to a test for the young side against the experience and streetwise nature of the opposition.

However, Millbrae scoring almost straight from the kick off was more due to Cumnock errors than anything else. The kick off was fumbled by Cumnock and Millbrae gratefully used the resulting lineout to set up a series of rucks which they drove forwards, a few yards at a time. Despite some sturdy Cumnock defence, they eventually drove over for the score when the defence around the fringes of the ruck was posted missing and Millbrae gratefully drove through the resulting space to score. The conversion was added and Cumnock were left seven points behind with less than seven minutes on the clock.

Cumnock rallied after this but were unable to make any impression against strong defence. Millbrae were also helped in the first half by a strong wind which meant they could keep Cumnock pinned back deep in their own half. Millbrae used this pressure to score their second when powerful ball carrying from their centres fragmented Cumnock’s defence allowing their forwards to drive over for another score which was, again converted.

Cumnock began to claw back some of the initiative when Mark Bennett and David Kerr linked in midfield off a well worked lineout move allowing space for Conner Nisbet and Gregor McMillan to carry the ball into the Millbrae twenty-two. A harsh decision of holding on was given against Cumnock allowing Millbrae to clear the ball. Despite this move resulting in nothing, Cumnock were determined to get something out of this pressure. It looked set to come Bennett broke through the defence off open play and, seeing support on his shoulder, drew the full back and passed to Alan Haynes who, with the line at his mercy, uncharacteristically knocked the ball on.
This seemed to reawaken Millbrae who added a third try before half time when quick hands left their winger with plenty of space to score in the corner. The conversion was missed but it still left Millbrae with a nineteen point lead at half time.

Cumnock began the second half with the wind at their backs and they used it to good effect when Millbrae conceded a penalty which was eased over by Kyle Johnson. The visitors continued to pressure the older team with several good breaks but they were undone by aggressive rucking by Millbrae as well as some increasingly strict refereeing decisions.
The breakthrough came when Martin Wilson ran a good support line off Bennett and found himself in space. Wilson then drew the full back and passed to Haynes, who held on this time and ran in to score his first senior try. The conversion went awry in the tricky wind.
Despite this try, Cumnock never looked likely to reach the mark set by Millbrae in the first half as the home side used their experience to tighten up the game and prevent Cumnock’s dangerous backs from making any more chances. It is to Cumnock’s credit, however, that they never stopped fighting and kept themselves in the hunt to try and get something out of the game.
The next score came from the hosts when their powerful centre ran through some weak Cumnock tackles to score his sides fourth try, earning them a bonus point. The conversion was added to complete the scoring. The game ended with Cumnock applying pressure to Millbrae but they were unable to score again before the end.
Another week with a disappointing result for Cumnock, although it was another performance with positive aspects, especially in the second half when the young side played some attractive rugby and never stopped chasing the game. However, soft scores early in the first half gave Millbrae a head start in the game which made it hard for Cumnock to recover.
Man of the match was David Kerr for a hard working display in the back row.

Team: Kevin Brady, Paul Miller, Craig Greer, Jim Ramage, Blair McMillan, Alan Smith, David Kerr, Jamie Thomson, Scott Houston, Kyle Johnson, Gregor McMillan, Mark Bennett, Alan Haynes, Tony Foster, Conner Nisbet, Barry Horton, Mark Linden, Martin Wilson

Next Saturday, Cumnock take on Strathclyde Police at Broomfield, kick off 3pm

Cumnock took the journey to Glasgow to face Cartha 3rds in 2nd xv league fixture.

After a couple of late call offs Cumnock went up with yet another youthful team (apart from Bobby Horton). Cartha won 31-0 in another hard fought match.

Cumnock face Hillhead Jordanhill next Saturday at Broomfield.

Kick off 3pm.


Scottish rugby results and table