Well the Presidential gaggle gathered at the Cumnock ground looking for the points to put Clydebank out of the reckoning and leave only Cumbernauld with any chance of spoiling the party.
The first piece of good news was that for some inexplicable reason Cumnock’s outstanding young stand off from last weekend was playing in the centre. The bufties were mystified but grateful.
So off we went, kicking off into a strong wind that was to dominate much of the game. The game plan was to keep it tight and drive up the middle. This was a relatively narrow pitch and we were not going to get much joy out wide today.
In 3 minutes Mike Borthwick showed great skill picking a ball off his toes and gave Rory an early chance to show his pace. No reward but a penalty this time but we took it quickly and gave Pete Broadbent a chance to charge over the line. Davy converted
7 – 0.
Pete and Mike B were all over the place controlling and directing in the loose. However, despite being in control even at this early stage we gave away a penalty and Cumnock converted after 14 minutes. 7-3.
Shortly after this we had a let off as Cumnock missed a second penalty chance. We regathered the ball and Danny pulled off a great inside break and a well made pass gave Davy just enough room to dot down the ball. Davy did not manage a very difficult shot at goal into the wind. 12-3.
Disco managed one of his trademark breenges from a quick tapped penalty but unfortunately the final pass just went forward.
Next phase was a good deal of white line fever and we squandered a couple of good chances. Order was restored shortly, however, and, after a good mazy run from Rory, the ever present Mike Borthwick created a chance for Greg Woolard which he accepted gratefully. Davy was unlucky again with the conversion attempt. 17-3.
Mike Aird cleaned up very well at the base of the scrum and fed on to Well’ard to get close. From the breakdown good simple hands shipped it out to Kerr Gossman to go over in the corner for the bonus point. Half time score 22-3.

So we turned with the wind at our backs and straight from the kick off Mike Borthwick pounded forward ably supported by Gordy Reid. Again great, quick hands to Kerr G on the wing and another try and an outstanding conversion from Davy. 29-3
The line out was not functioning at its best – strong wind not helping – but ET did nick Cumnock ball and the resulting quick handling nearly let Rory scoot in. Mike B was first at the breakdown as usual and nearly collected a try. By now his valiant efforts were taking their toll and he was replaced before coughing himself to a standstill. Dodgy back, barking cough and a broken finger – what a hero and unquestionably man of the match.
2 minutes later and after more good line out ball, Josh Mihill burst into the line from full back and showed great pace to get in under the posts – DW converted 36-3.
Well’ard was obviously fed up with Rory grabbing all the tries recently and, after a great charge upfield from Pete Broadbent, he latched onto the pass and charged over for his hat trick. Another good conversion from Davy 43-3.
As we are gentlemen, we decided to let Cumnock have a tidy spell of possession and their lethal no 12 took his first and only chance and streaked through our cover to dot the ball down under the posts and then converted 43-10. Very glad he did not feature like last week.
Andy McTavish was next in the action with an excellent piece of covering and a good strong run up the left to give us another good position inside the 22. We kept the pressure on and Pete B forced a scrum 5 from which Robbie Stewart powered over after a good break through the gap. Davy converted and the final whistle went. 50-10.
Job done, now there’s just one other team in contention.

Keep it up guys it’s great to watch.

The Veep

J Mihill, R Love, D Whyte, D Hoffman, K Gossman, R Stewart, M Aird, A Forbes, G Reid, C McLay, P Broadbent, E Thow, G Woolard, A McTavish, M Borthwick,Replacements A Drummond , A Fleming, J Carlin

This article was posted on 16-Mar-2009, 22:03 by Hugh Barrow.