Mull’s good home record remains intact
Mull 20 Waysiders/Drum 10 West Regional Division 3
Mull welcomed Waysiders Drumpellier to Garmony to start 2019 on the first Saturday of the year. The two sides met earlier in the season in Coatbridge with Waysiders beating a depleted Mull side convincingly, despite a strong performance from the Muileachs. Although Mull had played no competitive fixture since November, they were undefeated at Garmony and were facing a Waysiders team who were undefeated and top of the league, so the scene was set for a fantastic game in front of a big home crowd.
Mull started well and were rewarded with a converted try from the returning Scott MacColl inside the first 10 minutes. They continued their strong start with some big carries, a solid set-piece and excellent work at the breakdown and soon added another try to make the score 12-0. Waysiders began to apply some significant pressure to the home tryline but some resolute defending kept them at bay, leaving Mull ahead 12-0 at the break.
Both teams came flying out in the second half and, after a missed penalty, Mull captain Sean Black stepped up to knock over a kick from in front of the posts to put Mull up 15-0. Waysiders came back strongly and, after a number of phases, were able to cross the tryline to bring the score back to 15-5. Straight from the kick-off, Mull went through the phases and Black took the ball from the base of a ruck and broke through the middle to add a third try for Mull.
Waysiders suffered a number of injuries throughout the match but continued to put pressure on Mull and despite some heroic defending, eventually bundled over to make the score 20-10. The last 10 minutes passed with some disjointed rugby and a number of further injuries and no further scoring. As the clock went over 80 minutes, Mull thought they had added a bonus point try but the final pass to Cameron Anson was deemed to be forward.
The result means that Mull continue their undefeated home record this season and sets them up well for the rest of the season.