Rugby derby a rout:
EK put 70 points on the board at Cambuslang
Mike Tyson is historically attributed the observation along the lines of ‘everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’.
A thought of this nature may have occurred to one or two home spectators on Saturday during East Kilbride Rugby Club’s rout of Cambuslang at Coats Park.
When the sides met at Torrance House on the season’s opening day, a missed conversion with the last play of the game cost Cambus victory, and they must have fair fancied their barra with home advantage.
Unfortunately for optimistic home supporters, and despite a heavyweight scrum putting significant pressure on their visitors, EK were a class above, running in ten tries in a dominant performance.
Coach Allan Steel was able to put out a strong side despite the absence of key tight forwards Eddie Beaton and Ally Dalgleish.
There was a return to starting colours for Evan Middleton at the base of the scrum while Scott Aitken took a place on the bench, having been out for over a year.
Losing the heft of Beaton and Dalgleish increased the pressure on the EK forwards but they stuck to their set-piece tasks well. Once the ball was on the move though there was only one winner, EK playing some sublime running rugby.
Cambus had no answer to the power of Rosie, Shankie and Greenfield, in particular, while Chris O’Neill and the younger Beaton, two of the most mobile back-row players in the division, were dominant around the tackle area.
For the record, the East Kilbride tries were spread across Rosie (2), Brown (2), Mclellan, Middleton, Greenfield, Aitken, Stott and Shankie, with the latter adding 20 points with the boot.
EK gaffer Steel said: “We were relentless.
“The boys kept going back for more and that’s what we’ve been asking them to do.
“We don’t want them to be happy with what they’ve got, they need to go and finish games off and that’s exactly what they did.
“Cambuslang gave us a really hard game earlier in the season, so we knew we had to be well up for it.
“And we were better than Cambuslang all over the park. It’s the best rugby I’ve seen us play in a while.
“I’ve been asking for a bit of consistency so after the Greenock win a couple of weeks ago, it’s been a good spell for us.”
The win sees EK move back up to second in the table, three points behind Allan Glens and just ahead of Garnock and Greenock.
All four remain serious contenders for the single promotion place to the National Leagues.
This Saturday EK host a Stewartry side who put over 100 points on Strathendrick at the weekend. Despite this EK will go into the match with a degree of confidence, having already comfortably turned Stewartry over in Castle Douglas back in September.
Steel added: “If we don’t prepare properly for a game, any team is capable of beating us in this league.
“We don’t want an Irvine situation like we had a few weeks ago, a few guys being well off the pace and we get beat.
“Stewartry scored 120 points at the weekend, so it will be a difficult game.
“The good thing is the squad is getting stronger and everyone fighting for their place is benefitting us.”
TEAM: 1. McLellan, 2. Anderson, 3. McLinton, 4. Irvine, 5. Rosie, 6. O’Neill, 7. R. Beaton, 8. Middleton, 9. Ellison, 10. Murray, 11. Stewart, 12. Shankie, 13. Stott, 14. L. Brown, 15. Greenfield. Replacements: Blackwood, Fletcher, S. Aitken and Dryburgh.