Battle of Stranraer
Both Clydebank senior teams travelled to Stranraer on
Saturday to face Wigtownshire in their respective leagues. This is often a difficult place to visit and this
week was to be no different when both matches turned into
wars of attrition where players were falling at every turn.
The 1st XV lost their battle 9-0 but the 2nd
XV regained the club’s dignity when they ran out emphatic
winners 0-34.
The 1st XV had gone into this match undefeated in
the last five games but were carrying a number of injuries
and were minus several influential players.
The first half proved to be a very even affair with both
teams controlling their own possession but making no real
ground.
Wigtownshire did get an early break from a penalty which
they converted on seven minutes to take the early lead.
Clydebank stuck to their strengths and were winning good
possession in the lineout where Euan Cuthbert was
dominating. This
proved useful when Clydebank had a lineout on the Shire five
metre line just before the quarter hour mark.
Clydebank rolled the maul, set up from the lineout, towards
the Shire line but where brought down shy of the try line
when Shire were penalised. Unfortunately, the referee chose to reverse the
penalty when Clydebank complained about the stamping from
the Shire forwards and Shire were allowed to clear their
line. This would
be a trend that would pepper the match.
Shire dominated the loose play but Clydebank still
maintained enough possession to mount several attacks which
generally came to nothing as Clydebank lacked the final
killer blow.
Shire finished the scoring for the half just before the
whistle when they converted a second penalty to make the
half time score 6-0.
Clydebank were still in the match and had yet to show any of
the form they had demonstrated so far this season. The loss of two players by half time had made the
task a little more difficult but the depth of talent within
the club has proved strong so far.
The second half became very much a repeat of the first with
both teams making no significant inroads into the scoring
zone.
Shire had an early penalty miss but they did get a lone
break after fifteen minutes when their centre looked to have
a clear run up the middle of the park, but he was stopped
short by Robert Parr and the defence regrouped to clear the
danger.
Clydebank’s best chance should have come from a scrum on the
Shire five metre line but poor control lost the ball and
Shire regained possession and returned the play back up the
park.
A third injury forced fullback David Miller off the park
late into the match, which once more put pressure on the
Clydebank defence.
Yet another blow game from a yellow card for Graeme Kyle
with eight minutes to go. Graeme was penalised for handling in the ruck, a
practice Shire appeared to be able to carryout throughout
the match without impunity.
The final insult game with a minute to go when a break down
in concentration gave Shire a final penalty to stretch the
lead to 9-0, denying Clydebank the elusive bonus point.
Team Photo
The 2nd XV match proved just as physical,
demonstrated by the fact that both teams finished the match
with twelve players due to injuries.
The first half of the match saw both teams fighting for the
upper hand.
Clydebank lost two players through injury before half time
and with only the single reserve; they were one man down at
the half way mark. Luckily, Clydebank did have the lead 0-5 from a
single try by Stephen Barnett.
The second half proved to be more entertaining although the
loss of more players from both teams opened up the match for
the backs to show what they could do.
Stephen Barnett opened the scoring again with another try
and was soon followed by Paolo Camillo who scored his first
of the season.
Five minutes later Clydebank ran in a further three tries. Jim Welson and Stephen Barnett both finished off long
runs with tries; Stephen’s completing his hat-trick for the
day.
The final score came from Richie Fieldman who finished off a
run up the wing by Colin Dow. Stuart Laird added the conversion to complete the
scoring 0-34. With Clydebank having a free run of the pitch at this point
it was decided to finish the match early and head for the
showers.
Team Photo
The U17 side came up against another
high level club team in the form of a combined Cambuslang
and East Kilbride team and were soundly defeated. There were several good performances from the team
and the players all learned lessons from the experience. The biggest plus from this encounter was that, even
with a number players missing due to injuries, Clydebank put
out a full team and substitutes against two senior clubs who
have had to combine to make up their squad. This can only be indicative of a bright future for
the club.