EK crush Cambuslang:
Returning players ensure derby is one-horse race
East Kilbride Rugby Club gave their best performance, by some distance, on Saturday when completely outplaying local rivals Cambuslang to jump to third in the table, albeit having played more games than those around them.
Player/coach Allan Steel was finally able to reposition himself on the bench thanks to the return of talismanic Paul Rosie, while Bill Anderson was excused his late yellow-card shenanigans last week to assume his place in the middle of the front row.
The return of Roddy Beaton to wing-forward immediately increased the work-rate of the forwards by about 100 per cent and the flanker was to prove a thorn in the visitors’ midriff all afternoon. The big change in the backline was Aidan Stott moving from scrum-half to stand-off, via full-back, in a straight jersey-swap with 17-year old Ethan Aitken.
EK were dominant from the whistle and left Cambuslang operating off scraps of possession all day.
There were penalties aplenty at scrum-time for EK as Cambus struggled to cope with the home side’s power. Anderson had one of his rare days in the sun with his chucking-in, with Alex Irvine and Roddy Beaton pulling in considerable ball, both on their own and on Cambuslang’s throw.
The backs belied the conditions to move the ball well. Murray kept things simple at scrum-half, concentrating on feeding Stott, with his younger partner in turn displaying greater control than he’s shown of late while wearing the number nine jersey.
The physicality of Greenfield and Simpson always gave the forwards a target and some of the finishing was outstanding, Aitken Snr (3) and Callum Connelly-Tennock catching the eye with their scores.
There were also tries for Roddy Beaton (2), Rosie and Ethan Aitken, with the latter kicking the remainder.
By any measure this was EK’s most complete showing of the campaign, and with key players still to come back perhaps EK are not completely out of the promotion race. Even if they are, then they will still have a major say on who goes up.
• Meanwhile, the secondaryage groups were matched with Dunfermline and although the under-14s lost 32-12 to the Fifers they managed to turn in probably their best showing of the year.
Dunfermline had devastating pace and were able to focus on this for their tries, rather than the teamwork EK stuck to. Johnny Newton picked up the first EK touchdown following excellent work by the powerful Ryan Moghrabi. Lewis Sidewell’s quick thinking put Peter Home in for the second and Ruaridh Patrick claimed the third, capitalising on a Callum Ferrie break.
The U13s had an easier afternoon, putting Dunfermline away more comfortably than a tight scoreline would suggest. Ri Murphy scored the first EK try with Luca Galgani also crossing. There was an outstanding tackling stint from Sam Munday and Mark Neilson continually unsettled the Fifers defence.
The mini-section travelled to Motherwell to face Dalziel and Whitecraigs. The Primary 7 squad opened well with a 5-2 win over their hosts. Whitecraigs were a different proposition though and despite Campbell’s early score East Kilbride were comprehensively outplayed, eventually going down 5-1.
The P6’s went one better in winning both of their contests. Whitecraigs were first to fall, EK winning 5-1. Dalziel presented a much tougher challenge but East Kilbride edged their hosts in a five-try thriller, Reece McManus, Alex Hart and Kyle Edgar scoring.