Battling win keeps league hopes alive
But side get off to sluggish start in grim conditions
East Kilbride maintained their unbeaten home record for the campaign with a victory over Stewartry which ensures that they remain on the fringes of the promotion race.
Player-coach Allan Steel was forced into major surgery following last week’s defeat at Irvine, with Anderson, Eddie Beaton, McLean and Rosie dropping out of the pack.
In came McLellan at prop, Scott Aitken pushing across into the hooker role, Chris Quin, Graeme Blackwood and Steel himself, while in the backs the most notable movement was Richie Murray swapping places with Aidan Stott in an attempt to provide more direction.
The visitors quickly moved into a 10-point lead as a sluggish East Kilbride struggled in the glaur.
A short-range Callum Aitken score reduced the gap just before the break but it was no surprise to the crowd when Stewartry stretched their lead in the second half.
Finally EK began to fire and Aitken completed his hat-trick before Gregor Haggerty secured the bonus point when he went over near the end.
The visitors got a third try to pick up the close-loser bonus but EK were home safe.
Considering the makeshift nature of the side and the poor start, this turned out to be a decent performance by East Kilbride, particularly in the horrid conditions.
Recognising that Stewartry had a strong set-piece, powerful runners in their back row and an accomplished stand-off who could kick the leather off the ball, EK moved the ball wide at every opportunity, which was no mean feat in the wind and the rain.
Gaffer Steel was delighted with the way they responded to falling behind and how they bounced back from last week’s narrow loss to Irvine.
He said: “After last week’s defeat, the main objective was to keep our good home form going and I was happy with the performance.
“It was not ideal preparation, losing a few players to injury and illness before the game, meaning we had to rejig things a wee bit.
“Our set-piece was unrehearsed because of that and they went 10-0 up from a weak line-out of ours.
“But we got our tails up towards the end of the first half to give us a path back into the game.
“In the second half we were dominant. We were patient early on and got the reward with some really good tries.
“To be 10-0 down and come away with a bonus point win was very pleasing and credit goes to all those who stepped.
“It’s the best performance in an attacking sense we’ve had all season and bodes well going forward.”
He hopes one or two of the missing bodies can be brought back into the fold before this Saturday’s trip to Greenock. Kick-off is 3pm.
Team: Mclellan, S Aitken, Quin, Irvine, Steel, G Blackwood, R Beaton, C Aitken, Murray, B Blackwood, Ellison, Simpson, Greenfield, Haggerty, Stott. Replacements: McLean, E Beaton and E Aitken.