STEWARTRY 16 CUMBERNAULD 7
The BT West League Division Two took Stewartry north to Cumbernauld last weekend.
The Blacks started the game off but the ball did not go 10 metres. In the scrum on the halfway line Stewartry took the heal but they were penalised for not releasing in the ruck. The home side went for a lineout.
Stewartry caught the ball but knocked on. At the scrum the Stewartry forwards pushed the home pack back on their put in. Number 8 Martin Smith picked the ball up and got over the gain line before sending it to the back line but it was knocked on.
Securing the ball in a lineout the Blacks made ground up the middle but got stopped 20 mteres from the Cumbenauld line where the home side gave away a penalty for not releasing in the ruck. Mosey put the ball between the posts giving Stewartry 3 points on the board.
After the restart Stewartry got another penalty inside their own 22. A massive kick from Mosey took the Blacks 50 metres up to the Cumbernauld 22 for a lineout.
Stewartry took the ball cleanly and Martin Smith took it at speed charging up the middle. He passed it to Dougie Boyd, who drove deep into the opposition 22 but he was stopped 5 metres from the try line.
The Blacks took the heal at the scrum but the home pack put pressure on the Stewartry forwards resulting in them giving away a penalty for holding on to the ball in the ruck and allowing Cumbernauld to clear their line.
With Henderson on for Fenwick Stewartry got a scrum on the home 22. The Blacks took the heal and pushed forward toward the home try line. Burton made for the line before passing to Stevie McCulloch who went over for a try. The conversion missed.
Five minutes before the interval the Blacks were offside 25 metres from their try line in front of the posts. The penalty kick was wide of the posts.
After the 22 drop out Stewartry were penalised again for handling in the ruck but this missed too leaving the half time score at 8 – 0 to the Blacks.
Starting the second half Cumbernauld got a scrum on their own 10 metre line. Stewartry were penalised for not being properly bound. Cumbernauld kicked down to the Stewartry 22 for a lineout but the ball was knocked on. From the scrum the home forwards went offside allowing Mosey to kick a penalty back down into home territory.
The Cumbernauld forwards took the ball in the lineout and put it out wide to their right wing. Getting inside the Blacks 22 the Cumbernauld winger passed back inside. Weak defence allowed them in for a converted try.
Muir went on in place of Kerr. With 15 minutes on the clock Cumbernauld handled the ball in the ruck on their own 10 metre line.
At the lineout the Stewartry pack took clean ball. Smith took it at speed and charged up the middle but a massive tackle by a defender stopped him on the home 22 and he had to leave the field. Sainsbury went on.
Into the last quarter Stewartry gave away a penalty for killing the ball in the ruck but once more the Cumbernauld kick went wide.
With 10 minutes remaining Cumbernauld went offside just outside their own 22. Mosey’s penalty gave Stewartry another 3 points.
In a lineout on the halfway line the Blacks throw in was not straight. In the ensuing scrum the home pack was not properly bound giving Stewartry a penalty. However this was reversed when the Blacks infringed in front of the referee.
Cumbernauld took a quick tap and drove up the left wing. Good defence pressured their winger to chip the ball forward but it went too far going over the dead ball line.
After the 22 drop out the home side got a scrum, took the heal and attacked up the left side once more. Again they had to chip forward with the ball going too far and nothing coming of it.
Three minutes from the final whistle Stewartry got a scrum just inside home ground. They took the heal with Dougie Boyd peeling off to break up the left side. Breaking through 3 tackles he got deep into the home 22 but got stopped. A great off-load went to Stevie McCulloch who got closer to the home try line.
Boyd was quickly back on McCulloch’s shoulder to take the return pass and go over for a well worked try out in the left corner. The conversion missed taking the final score to Stewartry 16 Cumbernauld 7.
Following the narrow loss the previous week this was a good away win for Stewartry.
Stewartry squad:- J Fingland, A Kerr, T J McCarney, Danny Boyd, S Carson, C Mosey, J Farquhar, M McCulloch, D Burton, T Cannon ( captain),
R Porteous, I Fenwick, Dougie Boyd, S McCulloch, M Smith, J Muir, H.Sainsbury, L Henderson.
