STEWARTRY S1/S2’s BEAT CUMMNOCK BY NARROW MARGIN

Stewartry S1/S2’s

Cumnock S2’s – 13
Stewartry S1/S2’s – 14

Another very tough game against a very well drilled (and informed) Cumnock S2 Only team who had clearly done their homework on the Stewartry.

The blacks went behind after the first 5 minutes and played the game mostly two tries adrift until coming from behind and winning with a brilliant Joseph Strain Conversion from wide on the last play of the game.

The Stewartry Pack had received extra Scrummaging coaching from club captain Tommy Cannon along with Coach Andy Milligan and this paid off as they took total charge of the scrum against a big Cumnock pack. That said too much ball was lost in open play and work now need to focus on better rucking and keeping possession in open play which Cumnock were very good at.

Stewartry are now starting to play against much stronger opposition and are starting to realise that individual play alone will not win the game. Once the forwards started taking control of the rucks a bit better, things started to happen. Archie Nicholson continued to deliver quick ball to Joseph Strain at Stand Off, and the backs were all working very well. Half time finished early for some reason with the Blacks two tries down. The referee did note this however and made amends in the second half though and added on time to make up the difference.

Good pressure at the start of the second half resulted in quick ball from the forwards to the wing with Pacey Ho sprinting in to open the scoring. Cumnock came straight back up the park however to keep the gap at 2 tries. Stewartry started to pile on the pressure with the scrum wearing down Cumnock. Another great wingers try resulted in this from Matthew Coupland. However Stewartry once again let their guard down and let Cumnock in for a converted try making it 13 – 6 Cumnock with 5 minutes remaining. Stewartry got stuck right in again and great work saw Joseph Strain jink past the Cumnock defence for a try under the posts which he duly converted. With 1 minute left Stewartry went for it and whipped the ball out to Matthew Coupland on the wing who still had a lot of work to do, but jinked in past the defence to score out wide. The game was drawn at that point, and with the Cumnock fans all holding their breath for Stewartry to miss the kick, Joseph Strain stepped up and as cool as a cucumber slotted the ball perfectly between the posts with plenty to spare to seal a hard fought, but well deserved victory for the young blacks!!

Best for Stewartry were the backs who handled well, and in particular the smaller guys in the team who proved that big hearts can always beat the best!! Special mention has to be made of the two wingers Pacey Ho & Matthew Coupland who tackled hard and never shirked, and both were rewarded with Tries.

Up next is Marr from Troon away at Troon next Sunday 7th December. Travel there will be by coach again and travel times will be advised at training and on facebook. Just one word to parents though……please ensure you make arrangements to be at the clubhouse on time for the teams return as every week the coaches (who all have work to get back to) have had to wait around until the boys are collected. We will NOT leave any of the boys on their own at the clubhouse. They must be collected by parents or arrangements made for them to get back with other members of the team.

Stewartry Try’s – Pacey Ho 1, Joseph Strain 1, Matthew Coupland 2 Stewartry Conversions – Joseph Strain 2

Cumnock Try’s – 4
Cumnock Conversions – 1

Stewartry Squad:

Andy Budde
Archie Nicholson
Archie Picken
Connor McGuire
David Martin
Fergus Milligan
Finlay Smith
Fraser Gibson
Fraser Potts
James Caygill
Joseph Strain
Matthew Coupland
Neil Black
Oskar Wnuk
Owen Frankland
Pacey Ho
Rian Florence
Ryan Cochrane