RUGBY AYRSHIRE BULLS - CALLUM FISHER
The Bulls prevailed against both Heriots and the elements on Saturday to record a 17-14 win at Millbrae.
Head Coach Pete Horne hailed the positive result, saying: “Last week we dominated the game and came away with nothing, we weren’t clinical enough and we spoke about that during the week.”
“I was so proud of the boys, the mentality was spot on, on days like this you have got to scrap for everything and outwork the other team and I felt like our boys did that” Horne said.
“Heriots played really well to get back in to the game, they scored a cracking try and it was great to see our boys frustrate them, park it and move on. I’m really proud of them, it was a real gutsy performance”.
Alex Samuel also received praise from his Head Coach after the lock was awarded Man of the Match for his performance over the 80 minutes.
“He optimises what we are talking about all the time, he gets through an absolute shift and he’s doing really well”. Horne added.
“His physicality is really coming on and you forget that is only his fourth game in about a year so it’s brilliant.”
The scoring began in impressive fashion as a kick down the blind side of the scrum by Cameron Jones led to a try from Elias Caven after 13 minutes.
Heriots responded quickly though by powering over the line minutes later with a try from Jack Mann, the conversion thereafter was successful from the number 10, Bruce Houston.
The back-and-forth scoring continued in the 21st minute when the Bulls went over from close range themselves courtesy of Tom Lambert. Kicking again seemed to be an issue in the tough conditions as Christian Townsend missed the conversion once more, leaving the score at 10-7 in favour of the Bulls.
On 28 minutes the Bulls then pulled further in front. A lovely move finished off with Aaron Tait scoring and Christian Townsend kicking successfully to increase the lead to 17-7.
A spell of possession from Heriots prior to half-time looked likely to end in a score but the visitors ultimately came up short meaning the Ayrshire Bulls held their ten-point lead at the break.
It took until the 65th minute, after several periods of possession for both sides, for there to be any further scoring in the game.
Heriots’ number 23, James Couper, racing over the line to bring the game back to life. Bruce Houston then converted to bring the visitors within three points of the hosts.
Heriots pushed hard to score again and
in the Scottish Team Championships.
In the Scottish Individual Championships, Seaforth had two gold medal winners in the Vet 50 category – Mark Caldwell for the men and Susie Hubbard (finishing in 103rd place in a time of 11:35:00 for the females.
William Gough (125th 11:56:22| and Karen Adams (131st 12:03:08) also registered impressive efforts.