Semi-final heartbreak for gutsy Cambuslang
Cambuslang Rugby Club missed out on a place in the West Regional Shield final at the weekend despite putting in a “gutsy” performance against league rivals Allan Glens.
The Coats Park boys put in a muchimproved performance against the Bishopbriggs side but ultimately lost 34 - 10.
The Lang can, however, take heart from the game, having seriously narrowed the margin of victory against the team which just eight weeks ago thrashed them 62-0.
Coach Alex Donaghy said he could not be more proud of his team, including the players who stepped in when illness and work commitments saw four of the starting line-up missing.
“They had that mental positivity and fire in their bellies and that made a difference,” he told the Reformer.
“Apart from three tries - which they scored as a result of our mistakes - it was a close game.
“The boys never gave up and kept fighting and I was really proud of them for that.
“Two of our men had to work and two were ill and when you have four missing from your starting team that doesn’t help. We brought up boys from the two team and they played brilliant.”
He added: “They got a lot of praise from the Allan Glens team, who are top of the league.
“They said they couldn’t understand why we are so low in the league and said that shouldn’t be the case, as it was a really good game.”
Cambus’ points came from an Alec Bean try and a conversion and penalty from Gregg Oheme.
But it was the team’s unfortunate mistakes that cost the game, losing the ball on three occasions and giving Glens the opportunity to counter-attack.
Alex is hoping the boys can iron out those problems come Saturday when they take on local rivals East Kilbride.
He said: “It was a gutsy performance on Saturday. Hopefully we take that into our game this week against East Kilbride, which is a local derby.
“That will be a tough match. They are pushing for promotion; East Kilbride and Allan Glens are the top two teams in the league.
“But if we play the same way it could be an unexpected upset. If we play like that hopefully we will put East Kilbride off their game.”
He added: “We have 11 or 12 games left and we are starting to improve from what we had at the start of the season so hopefully we will progress in each game and get some more victories and keep going.”