Rusty Clydebank Fail to Impress
Clydebank 1st XV played top of the league Cumbernauld for the
second time this season. The
first time resulted in a win away from home for Clydebank and
Cumbernauld were looking for revenge this time around.
With no matches for the 1st XV since mid November the team
were short of match practice while Cumbernauld had recorded a league
victory the week before. Although both teams are very evenly matched Cumbernauld had the edge and
finally recorded a 0-7 win, which stretches their lead at the top of the
table but Clydebank had the consolation of a losing bonus point.
The 2nd XV took on Cartha Queens Park at home with Cartha
being the strong favourites. However, no one told the Clydebank team this and they proceeded to
record an excellent win by 15-12 to leave the visitors dazed as they
left the field.
The 1st XV match against Cumbernauld was always going to be a
tough affair with both teams playing at a very similar level.With Clydebank having edged the first encounter of the season
Cumbernauld were up for revenge.
In
the first twenty minutes Clydebank put up a strong defensive performance
that kept Cumbernauld at bay. A five metre scrum for Cumbernauld early on, which gave them a
strong base to attack from, was won by Clydebank and the play returned
back up the field.
Clydebank had several good attacking moves within the Cumbernauld half
but each time they failed to convert the pressure due to a lack of
concentration.
Cumbernauld failed to convert an early penalty with the ball striking
the post. Cumbernauld’s
kicking performance was to mimic their performance early in the year
where they failed to convert a number of penalties.
After thirty minutes Clydebank lost focus on a Cumbernauld attack and
their outside centre managed to run through the middle of the defence
and touch down under the posts for a try which was easily converted.
The first half ended with Cumbernauld leading 0-7.
The second half proved much the same as the first with both teams
struggling to make any significant breaks. The Cumbernauld winger proved a handful for the Clydebank defence
but never managed to break through.
Clydebank had only a few chances close to the Cumbernauld line but once
again they failed to convert them due to a break down in concentration
leading to mistakes and penalties that allowed Cumbernauld to clear the
danger.
The half ended without score and Cumbernauld were the winners 0-7. Cumbernauld made the least mistakes and the only major one from
Clydebank led to a score.
Clydebank do get a losing bonus point which keeps
them in contention in the top half of the table.
Team Photo
The 2nd XV played Cartha 3Bs and ran out winners by 15-12.Cartha were favourites going into this match but failed to
overcome a strong Clydebank team who looked to enjoy their match and
were deserved winners at the end of the day.
The scores for Clydebank came from David Smart (2 tries) and Ronnie
McKee (1 try).
The first try by David Smart was initiated from a break by Jamie Boyd
who fed David on the wing. David showed great determination to break through two defenders to cross
the line in the corner for Clydebank’s first try.
Ronnie McKee had the second try which came from a period of forward
domination which tied in the Cartha defence allowing Ronnie to find a
gap close to the line and touch down.
The final try by Smart was the result of another period of fine forwards
work.McKee made a break
with the Cartha players flat footed and fed Smart who crossed the line
for the final try.
Team Photo
The U17 squad played Paisley at home and put up an excellent first half
performance which should have seen them score but silly mistakes lost
them the advantage at the critical moments.
The second half saw Paisley come back into the match and cross the line
three times.
Clydebank’s only reply was a try from scrum-half Stephen Miller who
broke from the base of the scrum on the 22metre line and ran in with
little resistance to score.
The U15 team welcomed Lenzie to Whitecrook but
failed to show much cohesion against a more experienced team.
Lenzie won the match 12-31 with the Clydebank scores coming from
Joe Kiely (1 try), Calum Smith (1 try) and a conversion from Jack
Kirkwood.