Cumnock senior results for Sat 28/11/09

Cumbernauld 30 Cumnock 1st xv 0

After a week’s weather enforced lay off, Cumnock returned to action against Cumbernauld this weekend.

Eerie conditions greeted them with the pitch shrouded in a thick fog. This covered the fact that the pitch was soaking wet. It was never going to be a day for running rugby.
Cumbernauld started strongly with a powerful charge from their winger straight from the kick off. He was eventually hauled down twenty metres short although Cumbernauld retained possession and continued to drive forward through their powerful forwards. Stubborn Cumnock defence kept the home side at bay with some excellent defence round the fringes of the rucks. However, every time Cumnock retrieved the ball and cleared it, Cumbernauld’s solid set piece play meant they kept the ball and continued to drive forward. It was inevitable that they would eventually drive over the line and so it proved when they released the ball wide and exploited a bit of confusion in the defence to squeeze into the corner. The conversion was missed.
The game continued in this fashion with Cumbernauld controlling the possession and slowly but surely building a solid platform. Against this Cumnock continued to defend stoically with several good hits from Graham Hunter and Jamie Thomson on the much larger forwards of Cumbernauld.
However, it is hard to keep this up for ever and Cumbernauld eventually managed to score another unconverted try as well as a penalty. Kyle Johnson missed a tricky penalty in the fog which was to prove Cumnock’s best chance to score.
Cumbernauld also added another score just before half time when their forwards drove Cumnock over the line for their third try which was converted.
The second half was even scrappier than the first, not helped by the increasingly slippy playing surface and the thick fog. The first twenty minutes of the half were characterized by endless scrums caused by handling errors from both teams, not helped by the fact that often the players couldn’t actually see the ball coming in the fog. Cumnock again struggled to impose themselves on the game with Cumbernauld keeping hold of the ball where Cumnock were able to make several good breaks but then being isolated and losing possession. However, Cumnock’s defence was again excellent with Number 8, Jamie Thomson putting in a series of consistently bone shattering tackles backed up with good hits by Scott Houston and Ross Black, making his first start for the first team.
Cumbernauld managed to eventually break through as their winger showed excellent determination to stretch for the line despite a good tackle by Conner Nisbet. The conversion was again missed.
The last few minutes were very similar to the rest of the game with Cumbernauld running hard at Cumnock’s defence although the visitors stubbornly held their line. This was characterised by an excellent try saving tackle from Martin Hastings on his opposite number which showed Cumnock’s determination not to concede despite the score line. Cumbernauld did manage one more in the corner with another missed conversion ending the match.
Despite the disappointing result Cumnock showed a lot of character in adversity as promotion chasing Cumbernauld showed their experience to play the conditions better than the young visiting side.
Jamie Thomson was Cumnock’s man of the match with an outstanding defensive effort.

Team: Craig Greer, Paul Miller, Donald Hunter, Kevin Brady, Blair McMillan, Graham Hunter, David Kerr, Jamie Thomson, Craig McWhirter, Kyle Johnson, Gregor McMillan, Mark Bennett, Conner Nisbet, Tony Foster, Ross Black, Barry Horton, Scott Houston, Martin Hastings

Next Week: Cumnock host Oban at Broomfield in the latest round of league matches.


Garnock 2A 34 Cumnock 2nd XV 0

Cumnock 2nd XV travelled upto Garnock in 2nd XV League action against the team 3rd in the league. Due to late call offs Cumnock only went up with 12 players. Garnock were very kind to give Cumnock 2 players to make it 14 players for Cumnock and 15 for Garnock.

From the kick-off all the Cumnock players moved forward very well, with some positive moves towards the home try line. Cumnock had several phases from the forwards keeping it around itself attacking the try line. Cumnock even had a try disallowed as it appeared it was held up on the try line.

Garnock took the sustained pressure from the first 20 minutes and finally started using its numerical advantage and moved up the pitch and used the overlap to score 3 tries in the first half to make it 19-0 at half time.

Cumnock started the 2nd half with more positive play and continued to have periods of play in the Garnock half. Unfortunately our hooker got injured and we had to change to uncontested scrums. Garnock again gave us another player who had been subbed to join the Cumnock team. Garnock scored another 3 tries in the 2nd half with its numerical advantage to finish the game 34-0.

The Cumnock players were all a credit to the club, who went up to Garnock. Man of the match was Jason Johnstone for his tackling, running in the backs and positional play.

Cumnock 2nd XV travels upto Waysiders/Drumpellier on Saturday 5th with 2pm kick off.

Cumnock team: A. Watt, B. Horton, B. Holland, S. Manning, M Harkin, A. Nairn, S. Taylor, J. Ferrans, K. Barr, J. Johnstone, J. Seng, M. Thomson

Cumnock 54 Braidholm 5

After having no game last weekend, Cumnock were raring to go for this cup match against Braidholm.
The visitors are currently two divisions below Cumnock but they are leading their league and fancied their chances of causing a cup upset. However, Cumnock showed some class in recording a comfortable win in difficult conditions.
It was apparent straight from the kick off that heavy rain the night before had saturated the pitch with several players losing their footing and several handling errors which normally wouldn’t happen. The home side took the initiative in the opening exchanges of the game, soaking up Braidholm’s early attempt to drive with their larger forwards before turning the ball over and clearing the ball down the pitch. Braidholm won their lineout but a poor clearance from their stand-off meant that Cumnock were able to counter attack with the ball being spread from one wing to the other. It found Tony Foster in plenty of space to race past his opposite number to score. Kyle Johnson added the conversion. Cumnock continued to press the visiting team with some exciting line breaks and handling skills on display despite the pitch.
Also impressive was the linking between backs and forwards with the forwards running good angles to punch through the defence before offloading to the backs in space. Indeed several tries could have been scored but for several handling errors, some of which could be put down to the poor conditions and some couldn’t. However, Cumnock were soon back on the score sheet when Mark Bennett crossed the line after some clever interplay between backs and forwards. Kyle Johnson added the conversions before finishing off the next Cumnock try after sidestepping at least three Braidholm defenders. He converted the score to give Cumnock a solid lead.
Braidholm then had their best spell of the first half when they decided to kick the ball high constantly causing problems for the Cumnock back three on the slippery pitch. They kept this up for a long spell keeping Cumnock on the back foot despite never really looking likely to break the line or score. Cumnock, on the other hand always looked dangerous with the ball in hand and as soon as they recovered the ball from Braidholm and immediately broke up the pitch through Craig Greer who passed to Bennett before the ball was fed back to Greer who touched down with Johnson again adding the conversion. Cumnock were at it again when openside flanker, Alan Smith picked a good line through the defence before feeding Alan Haynes to score. Johnson missed the conversion from out wide to end the half.
The second half started well for Cumnock when Bennett gathered a long kick from Braidholm and set of through the defence to score after a neat exchange of passes with Smith. The reliable Johnson again added the extras. However, the rest of the second half was tight as Braidholm kept the ball tight to prevent Cumnock’s dangerous runners from causing them further strife. Braidholm’s patience eventually earned them a try after several phases sucking the defence giving their winger space to squeeze into the corner.
Cumnock took the chance to try a new style using their forwards to keep the ball tight which worked fairly well but they didn’t ever seem likely to score when doing this. It took until the last ten minutes before they scored again after a quick penalty caught Braidholm napping and the ball was spun wide with Bennett again getting on the end of the move to score with Johnson converting. Bennett finished the game after breaking through the tiring defence to score from well inside his own half. Johnson added the conversion to complete a comfortable win for the young home side to continue their impressive home form. This was a reasonably easy victory for the home side against a stubborn Braidholm side and bodes well for the second half of the league season and hopefully a continuing run in the cup.
Man of the match was Mark Bennett for adding another four tries to his considerable tally this season.

Team: Craig Greer, Paul Miller, Donald Hunter, Kevin Brady, Blair McMillan, Graham Hunter, Alan Smith, David Kerr, Craig McWhirter, Kyle Johnson, Gregor McMillan, Mark Bennett, Alan Haynes, Tony Foster, Conner Nisbet, Jamie Hodge, Scott Houston, Ross Black

Next Week: Cumnock resume league duties away to title challenging Strathendrick

Report by David Kerr

Pitchero link to report and results

Dumfries S1 20 Cumnock S1 38

Cumnock S1 win again

Things didn't look very promising as the team travelled down the A76 through torrential rain, however Dumfries basked in glorious sunshine and the pitch was in great condition for a game of rugby. The Primary 7 game had been cancelled and some of the more experienced players swelled the numbers available giving Cumnock the luxury of a full team. However as Dumfries were short of numbers some of the S1 players agreed to play for the hosts to even things up and give everyone a game.

The match was played over three periods, each lasting fifteen minutes, giving the coaches a couple of breaks to pass on some tips to the players. Cumnock dominated the first period, running in four tries from McLaren, Gordon, Faulds and Kerr, with one conversion from Aitken, taking over kicking duties from Reilly who was playing for Dumfries. During the same period Gordon moved to the Dumfries team to replace an injured player and then somewhat uniquely scored for the hosts, which was also converted. Cumnock led 13-4 at the first break.

Changes were made amongst the players on loan to Dumfries. The second period was a more even affair with two tries for each team, the Cumnock scores coming from Dewhurst and Howie. Both scores came from good breaks from platforms set up by the forwards giving the boys an easy run in. Dumfries also scored two tries, both of which were converted. Cumnock were still in front at the second break, leading 19 - 12.

More changes followed at the start of the final period, with Cumnock again re-shuffling the players on loan to Dumfries. This forced Cumnock to make positional changes and allowed the P7 players to come more into the game and they took the chance to get stuck in. Cumnock scored five tries in this spell, from Howie. Kerr (2), Reilly, and Smith, with four fine conversions from Reilly. Most of the tries again came from the backs breaking the line and great support play and passing ensured the scores. Dumfries answered with two tries, both of which were converted by their excellent kicker. Final score Dumfries 20, Cumnock 38.

This was a fair result against a weaker opposition. By mixing the Cumnock players with the host team it gave some players the chance to play in other positions, which will assist in their development. The Primary 7 players enjoyed the wide open spaces of playing on a full size pitch and made a great contribution to the game, in fact they were collectively given the Man of the Match award for their efforts. Donkey of the day was Scott Faulds for his clearance kick from inside his own in-goal area which went higher than the five metres distance that it travelled!

Cumnock team was Harkiss, McLaren, Faulds, Phillips, Gordon, Kerr, Reilly, Aitken, Howie, Birrell, Smith, Hill and Dewhurst.

Pitchero Report and results

Honours even Cumnock vrs Hyndland

Cumnock 2^nd XV 26 - Hyndland 1^st XV 26

The 2XV welcomed Hyndland to Broomfield on Saturday as the build up to the new league season continued. The visitors were a couple of players short due to work commitments, so Steven Taylor and Roger Thomson (in his first game for several years) volunteered to play for Hyndland.

The game started well for the visitors as they put the hosts under a lot of pressure with good driving play from their forwards. It was after some concerted pressure from the pack that their prop drove over in the 3^rd minute for an unconverted try.

Rab Cross made numerous strong runs in the game and it was from one of these that Greg Hamilton had Cumnock

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s first scoring chance. He cleverly chipped the ball over the defence and outran the fullback, but knocked the ball on while attempting to touch it down.

Hyndland continued to press and it took a great double tackle from Craig McWhirter and Johnny Seng to stop the visitors from going ahead. The game was beginning to even up and it came as no surprise when the home side got their opening try in the 17^th minute. Martin Hastings picked up a loose ball and sprinted in from half way to dot down under the posts. Ferrans converted to take the score to 7-5.

Craig McWhirter was really giving his opposite number a hard time, continually pressuring him into mistakes. After one of his tackles the ball went to Greg Hamilton who ran strongly towards the line, but was tackled by the visiting fullback. McWhirter was unable to gather the ball cleanly.

In the 25^th minute Ferrans broke through a couple of tackles and offloaded to Kenny Barr. The ball was quickly passed from Hastings to Hamilton who tried another chip over the defence. He gathered the ball and twisted over for Cumnock

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s second try. Ferrans made no mistake with the conversion.

The game continued to ebb and flow as the second half got underway. In the 39^th minute a great back from the home side

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s second row almost took him to the try line, but he passed outside to the supporting Seng who crossed over for his first senior try. 19-5. After another excellent break by the backs, the ball was dropped with the line at their mercy. The visitors continued to pose a threat and it was from a series of rucks in the home 22 that Hyndland scored. Roger Thomson drove over from close range to narrow the gap to 7 points.

Back came the home team and after a good break from the backs the ball was recycled quickly from a ruck, Cross and Ramage combined to send Hamilton clear for his second try of the day. Ferrans converted to take the score to 26-12. Hyndland continued to press and were rewarded with a converted try when Roger Thomson chipped the home defence and while the ball bounced unkindly for the home fullback ( his SON!), it bounced straight into the Hyndland fullback

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s arms who touched down for a converted try in the 60^th minute. Hastings showed his awareness when he spotted the defence out of position and chipped the ball for Seng to chase. The ball was kicked out of play just short of the line. Hyndland came straight back up the pitch and after several rucks on the line, they scored a converted try through their second row. Cumnock had one last chance to win the game when Smith mad an excellent break from his own 22, but was tackled just short of the line by Steven Taylor who was playing for the visitors.

Man of the match was awarded to Jim Ramage for his overall support play and encouragement of the several youngsters in the team. Tackle of the day went to Alan Smith for driving the Hyndland prop backwards which was no mean feat. DOD went to Martin Thomson for allowing his father to outwit him.

Squad: Horton, Watt, Cross, Ramage, Linden, Harkin, Smith, McWhirter, Ferrans, Seng, Barr, Hastings, Hamilton, Thomson, Thomson, Taylor, Wallace.