League leaders put EK to the sword Torrance House side prove no match for Carrick
On the attack East Kilbride ......... 3 Carrick ................ 40
Richard Beaton
East Kilbride Rugby Club’s outstanding run of form in 2018 was brought to a juddering halt when they were outplayed in the glorious sunshine at Torrance House by league leaders Carrick.
The Maybole side were the only unit to have beaten EK in this calendar year with victory back in early February, and Saturday’s performance suggests that it will take a good side to deny them the title.
In truth though, well as Carrick played, EK were not at their best, albeit the final score does the home side something of a disservice.
East Kilbride played well for 30 minutes but contrived to lose three tries on the counter-attack between minutes 30 and 40, before a sloppy fourth just after the break killed the contest.
From this point on it was plain to see that East Kilbride hearts were not in it. Other than a chance to avenge the earlier defeat EK had nothing to play for, whereas Carrick remain on the glory trail and their greater hunger was plain to see.
Collectively, particularly in the first half, EK did not play badly, but one or two of the squad were already on their holidays and Carrick were ruthless in exploiting this weakness in the ranks, particularly across an EK backline which looked unusually porous.
It was only EK’s second defeat in 10 outings and gaffer Steel said: “I’ve got no complaints about the result.
“We were missing a few bodies, but even if we had a full team I don’t think it would have made a difference.
“They showed why they are top of the league and I’m sure they’ll go on to get promotion now.
“We’ve been on a really good run and it’s disappointing to be beaten.
“We started the game well and both sides had early chances that they didn’t take, but that was down to how well the two teams defended.
“But 30 minutes in they spun the ball out wide to go into a one-onone situation. We missed the tackle and their player ran in to score, so it’s disappointing an individual error cost us and put the game in their favour. We didn’t recover quickly enough from that and before we know it another error has cost us and we are two scores down.
“In the second half their number nine and number 10 – two really good players – controlled the game and we struggled to get to grips with them.”
Things don’t get much easier this weekend when second top Allan Glens, the only side with a realistic chance of pipping Carrick for the title, come calling (kick-off 3pm).
Steel is relishing his side having a say in the title race and is hoping his team can still sneak third place in the table from Garnock, who they meet in a fortnight.
“Carrick only need one more win and we can have a big say in things against Allan Glens,” said Steel.
“We lost down there earlier in the season, so we are hoping to put that right.
“Third place is still achievable. We need to win our final three games, so it’s possible and we’ve got teams around us in Allan Glens and Garnock still to play (as well as Irvine), so we’ll give it a go.
“A big positive from the weekend was young Kieran Noble made his debut off the bench at 17-yearsold. It’s great to see the young ones coming through and I think we’ll see a youthful team out there on Saturday.
“With a lot of youth, there shouldn’t be any fitness issues and I’m looking forward to seeing the team we put out.”
TEAM: McLellan, Anderson, E Beaton, Irvine, Rosie, Hastie, R Beaton, C Aitken, Stott, Murray, Brown, Greenfield, Ferguson, Haggerty, 15. Ellison. Carrick Allan Glens Garnock EAST KILBRIDE Kilmarnock Stewartry Annan Greenock Wndrs Irvine Cambuslang * Oban Lorne * Helensburgh * P W D L GD PT 19 18 1 0 63290 19 17 2 0 54683 18 16 2 0 38277 19 13 5 1 30067 19 10 9 0 29 49 20 7 12 1 -23 40 16 7 9 0 -79 37 20 7 11 2 -20336 19 4 15 0 -26123 18 4 14 0 -39321 17 4 13 0 -41213 18 2 16 0 -518 1