EK go top after dumping Dalziel
Visitors get off to slow start but power to victory
East Kilbride Rugby Club overcame a slow start to record a comprehensive victory at Dalziel and move top of the league in the wake of unbeaten Greenock’s surprise draw at Kilmarnock.
Player-coach Allan Steel took advantage of an unusual surfeit of bodies, particularly up front, to rotate his pack.
Try-scoring machine Chris Mclellan handed the #1 jersey to Lloyd McLinton, while a lightweight second row of Alex Irvine and Ben McLean were paired for the first time.
Graeme Blackwood and Roddy Beaton joined Chris O’Neil in a reshaped back row. One outcome of the shuffle meant that Steel found himself part of a very large set of replacements alongside Paul Rosie and Ally Dalgleish, and the ability to bring such powerful bodies to bear against a tiring defence made a huge difference to the outcome of the contest.
Throughout the game’s opening quarter the visitors scarcely resembled a side contending for the title, consistently sluggish and error prone.
However, once Aidan Stott used his pace to claim East Kilbride’s first try after 25 minutes the result was never in doubt.
Seventeen-year-old winger Lewis Brown added two more before the break to put EK 17-3 to the good after 40 minutes.
Despite the hosts getting a try of their own shortly after the restart, EK were in the ascendancy and there were further tries from Steel, Grant Dryburgh, Scott Shankie and Irvine to give the visitors an ultimately commanding victory.
The one-point home defeat to Allan Glens remains the only blot on East Kilbride’s copybook and Saturday continued a particularly strong run on their travels, averaging nearly 40 points a game across four contests.
This Saturday will be a tough one when third-placed Garnock visit the Torrance House Arena.
The Ayrshire side have beaten EK on the last three occasions the teams have met and look to have overcome some early season hiccups to get themselves right back in the promotion mix. Kick-off is 3pm.
TEAM: 1. McLinton, 2. Anderson, 3. E. Beaton, 4. McLean, 5. Irvine, 6. G. Blackwood, 7. O’Neill, 8. R. Beaton, 9. Ellison, 10. Murray, 11. Haggerty, 12. Stott, 13. Shankie, 14. L. Brown, 15. Stewart.
Replacements: Rosie, Dalgleish, Steel and Dryburgh.
• Meanwhile, the Reserves spurned
a great opportunity to take something from their own league encounter with Dalziel.
A missed conversion from in front of the sticks by Matthew Fletcher saw them leave empty-handed, going down 14-12, with tries from Mark Donnachie and Barry McLeod.