Endrick march on in promotion push

Fintry men see off Uddingston in style

Uddingston ........ 0 Strathendrick..24

Tom Yuill Strathendrick are one game closer to promotion after a comfortable win at Uddingston on Saturday.

The home side didn’t let the championship chasers have it all their own way and had the best of the early exchanges.

But they couldn’t put points on the board and it was the Fintry men who grabbed the opening score with a wellworked pushover try, scored by player-coach Neil Callander and converted by Sam Greenock after 12 minutes. The game was closely fought, with both defences proving robust and it was half an hour before the visitors muscled their way into Uddy territory and Ewan MacKay drove over from close range for a try, again converted by Greenock, for a half-time 14-0 lead.

Although the game looked to be slipping away from them, Uddingston remained competitive and it was 52 minutes before the Fintry forwards drove the hosts back and MacKay again picked up at the base of ruck and dived over.

Strathendrick asserted their control and sealed the win – together with a valuable bonus point – when with 10 minutes to play, Mackay completed a remarkable hat-trick of tries.

Endrick are now only one point behind current leaders Lenzie and Cumnock but with games in hand over both.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Paisley visit Ruth Menzies Field, kickoff 3pm. Strathendrick: Anderson, North, Graham, Pretorius, Doug Beaumont, Doyle, Greenock, Gibson, MacEachern, Scott, MacKay, Eckersley, Nixon, Ogilvy and Callander. Subs: Moore and Conner.

The 2nds travelled to Uddingston and – due to a shortage of players – played a “mix and match” game against the BT West Reserve League Div 3 champions. The final score was 65-48 for Uddy.