Pitchero

Cowal

Birkmyre

Tries

C Hall, D Carruth (2), G Stein, K Stevenson, N Arthur (2), R Pinkerton (2)

Conversions

N Arthur (6)

Sat 11 May 15:00 - RBS West Regional Leagues - RBS WEST LEAGUE DIVISION 4 Full time

Report

Highlights

Selection

League round up

Cowal 19 - Birkmyre 57

By Gordon Stein

Bears get promoted!

Match Report by Peter Haveron

In what has been a long season Birkmyre finally played and won their 16th league game away to Cowal by 57 points to 19.This win confirms second place and promotion.

A win would have been enough however a win with a bonus point would put some gloss on a long league campaign by allowing the Bears to finish on their own in second place. The score on the day confirms a good victory but what it does not show is how hard Cowal made Birkmyre work for this win. Cowal are a young and capable side and will be a team to be reckoned with in whatever league they are in next year.

Birkmyre played against the wind in a fairly even first half which saw them take the lead by 22 points to 12. Tries came in this half from Davy Carruth; Gordon Stein, Calum Hall and Ruaridh Pinkerton. Niki Arthur took over the kicking duties for the day converting one of these.

Turning around for the second half Birkmyre felt confident they could extend the lead especially with the wind in their backs. However Cowal had something to say about this and it was not long before they narrowed the lead to 3 points by scoring a converted try of their own. At this point the game could have gone either way.

However experience and desire took over with Cowal tiring a little and Birkmyre finished the game with 5 more converted tries. These came from Kevin Stevenson, Niki Arthur and second tries for Calum, Davy and Ruaridh who now picks up the try King award for the season. His second try narrowly pips Gregow McEwan to this award, with Captain Gordon finishing third. Niki converted all 5 of the late tries and also was voted as Birkmyres man of the match.

Thanks to Cowal for excellent hospitality in the Lorne; a visit to Dunoon is always enjoyable and welcoming.

So well done to coaches Fozzy and John and to Captains Gordon and James. Promotion from this league was not easy and there were several other teams who may have also achieved this position particularly Moffat who can justifiably feel unlucky to have played so well and finished so close.

League restructure will soon indicate who we play next year and no doubt it will be challenging. So we will need to be up for it. Take a rest now and lets be ready for it when it comes.