Stewartry RFC 0 - East Kilbride RFC 48

East Kilbride travelled to a cold, windy Castle Douglas for a rearranged BT West League Division 1..

Playing into the wind in the first half EK took only 8 minutes to open the scoring as following good play and many driving carries Aiden Stott sprinted 22metres to score in left corner. Ethan Aitken converted. The New Town side scored once more in the half. With 5 minutes remaining strong scrummaging and 2 fierce drives by P. Rosie and S. Shankie set up a position from which A. Irvine drove over from 8 yards to make the score Stewartry 0, East Kilbride 12 at the break.
With the wind behind them EK wasted no time in adding to the half time score. After two minutes forward pressure led to a try claimed by Eddie Beaton, converted by Ethan Aitken and this was followed five minutes later when good handling by the backs led to the bonus point try scored on left wing by Craig Fergusson.
From this point onwards EK continued to attack the Stewartry line. Tries came at regular intervals, firstly from Roddy Beaton when a high kick by EK led to mistake by Stewartry that he pounced on torun in a try and then from Aiden Stott (his second of the afternoon) following great driving and carries from EK forwards. Ethan Aitken converted both.
With 10 minutes remaining great handling by the backs gave debutant Grant Dryburgh his first try and six minutes later Roddy Beaton scored his second try to make the final score Stewartry 0, East Kilbride 48.
Overall a great performance by the team in very testing and freezing conditions. The scrummage continues to be a power and the ball carrying by the pack led to the backs being able to exploit the opposition out wide.
Peter Ferrie has nominated Chris McLelland as man of the match. His game has improved as the season has progressed. He is a major player in a very powerful front row works tirelessly for the full 80 minutes of every game.
Team: M. Ellison, E. Aitken, R. Greenfield, C. Simpson and C. Ferguson. R. Murray and A. Stott. C. McLelland, R. Anderson, E. Beaton, P. Rosie, A. Irvine, R. Beaton, C. Wilson and S. Shankie.
Replacements: C. Hastie, G. Blackwood and G, Dryburgh.

Updated 10:00 - 31 Aug 2019 by Malcolm MacDonald