IRVINE RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

Only the referee knows what the Neil Paterson impression late in the first half was in aid of, but he was in no way to blame for Irvine's failure to retrieve the situation after the interval.

Irvine now conclude their league campaign with visits to GHK on February 18th and Annan on March 3rd.


The early exchanges resembled an elaborate game of cat-and-mouse as both sides had a look at each other. Such incisive moves as there were were brought to a premature end by handling errors or penalties.

Irvine took the lead after 13 minutes, when good defence on their part forced a penalty for not releasing the ball, which fly-half Kris Hobson goaled for 3-0.

The lead could have been wiped out immediately when David Kirkwood knocked the restart on and Irvine infringed on the subsequent possession, but Newton Stewart scrum-half David Sommerville was wide with his kick. He had another chance a few minutes later when the visitors won possession from the drop-out and patiently worked upfield, eventually winning another penalty when the Irvine defence wandered offside, but again he was unable to find the target.

Kris Hobson punished Sommerville for his lack of accuracy on 25 minutes when the Newton Stewart defence were caught offside on an enterprising Irvine move, and he stepped up to kick the home side into a 6-0 lead.

Newton Stewart had a glorious chance to notch the game's opening try on 31 minutes when the home side were penalised for illegally turning over the ball, and Sommerville opted to kick to the corner. From the resulting lineout they laid siege to the Irvine line, and desperate defence from the hosts saw the ball held up.

The visitors did not have to wait much longer to get on the scoresheet as the home side lost two men and a try in the next five minutes. Flanker Alastair Maxwell was the first to walk as he was ruled to have been binding illegally as the visiting pack sought to turn up the heat in the resulting succession of scrums. Scrum-half Euan Morrison followed him into the bin a minute later when he attempted to bolster the now retreating Irvine scrum, but illegally in the eyes of the referee, who finally lost patience with Irvine when their scrum again buckled alarmingly and he awarded the by now inevitable penalty try to Newton Stewart. Sommerville added the conversion from in front of the posts to put the visitors up 7-6.

The thirteen men of Irvine saw out the half to trail by a point at the break.


The first order of business for the home side after the restart was to see out the double sin-binning, which they duly did. After this, they set about attempting to regain the initiative, and winger Craig Lang could have scored on a kick play on 48 minutes but was beaten to the ball by the covering defence.

Kris Hobson then missed two penalty kicks in as many minutes as the home side continued to dominate. He could consider himself unlucky with the first from the left touchline, which drifted onto the far post and rebounded in play. As for the second on the opposite side, the author will refrain from any references to musical instruments or farm animal body parts in case there is a repeat of what happened to the last Irvine goalkicker he mentioned these in relation to.

The home side tried to keep the pressure on when the visitors were free-kicked at the next lineout but Craig Hobson's handling let him down as he tried to gather John Carson's pass. Then moments later they charged down former Irvine fly-half Jamie Muir's attempted clearance but were again unable to capitalise.

Another kick play nearly resulted in a try for Ruchin Filander but the covering defender in attendance was again first to the ball. Crucially though, he was ruled to have carried the ball over the try line, giving Irvine a 5-metre scrum. However, the visiting pack turned it over, and when the home side were penalised for an illegal bind on the subsequent scrum, it began to look increasingly like it was not to be their day.

The game became increasingly scrappy as the second half wore on, and this perhaps played into the visitors' hands. A penalty against the home side for offside saw them camped in their own 22 for a spell, and although another score for the visitors never looked on the cards, crucially it ate up a fair amount of time.

Irvine eventually managed to work upfield, and on 74 minutes Danyl Davies - playing in his fourth different position of the season at outside centre - embarked on one of his trademark runs but good visiting defence saw the Welshman forced into touch.

There were a few more late chances for Irvine but the tone of proceedings was by now irrevocably set and the visitors saw out the remaining minutes to secure a workmanlike, but nevertheless well-merited, victory.


Marress' match against Ardrossan was postponed due to unplayable pitches at Memorial Field. It has been rescheduled for February 18th, replacing the original home match with Newton Stewart which was no longer a competitive fixture.


IRVINE -- C Hobson; C Lang, D Davies, K Lang (capt), J Carson; K Hobson;
E Morrison; D Kirkwood, R Festorazzi, S Docherty, G Kerr, A Thomson,
A Lang, A Maxwell, R Filander. Subs: T Wright, R O'Neill, T Turner.

NEWTON STEWART -- G McMillan; I Russell, S Costley, M McCornick,
J McWhirter; J Muir, D Sommerville; M Wallace, R Fiskin, S Hamilton, M Adams,
R Vance, H Hamilton, C McNeil, A Gaw. Subs: B Haigh, C Johnstone, J Wallace.

REFEREE -- David Stark

MEN OF THE MATCH -- The Newton Stewart squad collectively.

MASCOT -- Ally Green