Flying start for EK
Old boy returns for opening day victory
Allan Steel came out of retirement to score two crucial tries in East Kilbride Rugby Club’s opening day win over Cambuslang.
The Torrance House gaffer had 10 players missing for the visit of their rivals, but his depleted side defied the odds to claim a 17-16 victory on Saturday.
Steel pulled on his boots and landed a try in either half to haul his team over the line.
He said:“It was an eventful day for me.
“We had 10 guys on the sidelines due to injuries and concussion guidelines. They would have started, so there was a lot of changes.
“I had to put myself in and Ryan Anderson [his assistant] as well, so it was very much a makeshift team.
“But the boys stuck to the task and ground it out. The message was it didn’t matter how we won – as long as we did – and we managed to get the result.
“I scored the first try right on the half-time whistle that gave us a lift going into the second half.
“When we came back out we had our best spell of the game, put a few phases together and I scored again after some good work from the boys.
“It’s great to start the season with a win.”
However, it could have ended very differently as Steel almost went from hero to zero right at the death. He said: “We were a bit lucky to win because I gave away a penalty in the last seconds but, thankfully their kicker missed it.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a couple of bodies back for this weekend [away to Stewartry] and I’ll be able to sit that one out.”
East Kilbride ....... 17 Cambuslang ....... 16
East Kilbride Rugby Club earned the bragging rights on the opening day of the season after a narrow victory over local rivals Cambuslang.
However, there was little to boast about in terms of their performance, as they fell far short of the level required by the coaching duo of Allan Steel and Ryan Anderson.
Neither could fully excuse themselves from criticism though as both were forced to ditch the suits and pull on their kit despite having nominally retired, such was the extent of the Missing in Action list.
Last Saturday’s roughhouse at Strathendrick had left McLinton, Irvine and Ellison sitting out under the SRU’s Concussion Protocols, while Roddy Beaton remained in detention class following his red card.
Additionally, Iain Brown and Paul Rosie were struggling with knee problems, and Scott Shankie unavailable through work.
Thus, with more than half of Steel’s first choice side on the side-lines it seemed unlikely that EK would seriously dent last season’s return of over 100 points against Cambuslang across the two league games.
What nobody could have anticipated though was how far EK would drop off, and few on the home side’s terracing would have felt it unfair had Cambus taken the win.
One of the wiser injured trackside sages suggested that the team had taken pretty much everything they worked on in training and flipped it on its head to do the complete opposite.
EK played a repetitive, ponderous game of pick and go around the tackle area and making inches at a time against a well-set Cambus defence.
The most extravagant they got was to move the ball out one position before seeking contact, which again did nothing to ask questions of the visitor’s defensive organisation.
The only real positives on the day, beyond the four points, were competitive debuts for two of the under-18 side.
Matthew Fletcher recovered well from dropping the opening kick-off to get through a power of work at wingforward, while Lewis Brown was the pick of the backs for his defensive efforts.
There was also a welcome return to form from Chris O’Neill after his year out with a serious neck problem, the compact flanker getting through the bulk of his side’s hard-yard carries.
Both EK tries went to Steel, with Grant Dryburgh kicking the others. This weekend EK travel to Castle Douglas to take on Stewartry. Kickoff is 3pm.
TEAM: 1. Mclellan, 2. Anderson, 3. Beaton, 4. Dalgleish, 5. McLean, 6. Fletcher, 7. O’Neill, 8. Steel, 9. Stott, 10. Murray, 11. Ferguson, 12. Greenfield, 13. Simpson, 14. L. Brown, 15. Dryburgh.
• Meanwhile, EK’s junior teams returned to action over the weekend, producing positive performances.
The first of the junior sides to take the field this season were Ross McQueen’s Primary 1-3 squad who had an afternoon in the company of Ayr and Cumnock.
The 1/2 group only got to play Cumnock but acquitted themselves well after a hard summer’s training. Aaron Greer topped the try charts while there was a debut score for Mia MacDonald, Sean McCudden also crossing.
The P3’s went through the day unbeaten with wins over Cumnock (5-0), Ayr B (5-1) and a thrilling 2-1 victory over Ayr A to take the title.
Tries were more evenly spread than normal; Sam Bradley, Aimee MacDonald, Jacob Cosh, Alistair Longmire, Max McQueen and Jacob Quinn all scoring.
Elsewhere, EK reserves lost 60-10 to Hamilton III in their league opener.