Like last Saturday’s Calcutta cup Scotland v England rugby match, the local derby match between Stewartry & Dumfries Under 18s was a superb 12-12 draw between the old rivals.
Stewartry were however awarded the victory under SRU cup rules which state in event of a draw where tries, kicks and yellow/red cards are equal the away team are awarded the win.
Also like Saturday’s Calcutta cup match this was very much a game of two halves.
Dumfries started with a very clear hunger to win the game and a wind on their backs. They were two tries and one kick up after 20 minutes as Stewartry tried and failed to run the ball down the middle of the park through the Dumfries forwards despite being told not to try this tactic.
Strong words at half time and a few positional changes started to make a difference. Stewartry were very strong in the scrum and pushed Dumfries off the ball on a number of occasions. Line outs were steady and Stewartry started to get on the forward foot with strong runs from Kerr, Dunbar, McGuire, Telfer and Budde. A wee wobble midway through 2nd half saw Dumfries camped again on the Stewartry line but tremendous tackling by the whole Stewartry squad averted what would have been a killer punch by Dumfries.
The new back line of Gwynne, Spence and Forsyth worked really well and with Forsyth scoring a superb try under the posts which was converted by Lochie Spence with 10 minutes on the clock.
The blacks kept the pressure on and just as the clock went into injury time Fraser Forsyth weaved through to score in the corner and secure a draw which was enough for the away team to progress to the Scotland West Bowl Final. Once again great tackling by the whole team and special mention to the boys from the west of Galloway (Dozer Dunbar and Frank Gwynne).
Man of the match was Stand Off Gwynne.
In summary though, Dumfries & Galloway Rugby was the winner with this superb showcase of a game being awarded to the lads fae Bonnie Gallowa.
Squad:
Andy Budde (Captain)
Lochie Spence
Connor McGuire
Ryan Cochrane
Gregor Todd
Oskar Kapron
Finlay Smith
Finlay Telfer
Archie Nicolson
Logan O’Malley
Ryan Kerr
Alistair Wood
Pacey Ho
Tommy McGrath
Patrick Quigley
Frazer Potts
Aiden Dunbar
Frank Gwynne
Fraser Forsyth
