Clydebank Post | Sport | Semi-final in their sights

Saturday, 17th May, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 9th April, 2008 10:00

Semi-final in their sights

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Clydebank 1st XV 19 Mackie 14

CLYDEBANK booked their place in the semi-final of the National Plate competition after a hard fought victory against Mackie.

In the Whitecrook encounter Mackie started well and set up some good attacking positions, but excellent midfield defence snuffed out the threat.

With a strong wind behind them stand-off McCombe started to hoist the ball up high to test out the Mackie full back.

It was one of these testing kicks that proved fruitful, setting up an attacking scrum before slick handling in the backs allowed Mark Dry to sail through the defence for the opening score.

The try put Clydebank in the ascendency and they kept up their pressure before a line-out after 20 minutes brought more reward.

The well drilled Clydebank pack controlled the ball at the back of the maul after the line-out and rumbled up the pitch before Paul Andrew crossed the line to increase the lead.

But just before the break the visitors – who play their rugby in the Northern Division 1 – hit back with a try of their own to reduce the deficit.

In the second half Clydebank picked up the pace in a bid to kill off the match and some astute kicking from Moffat put them deep in opposition territory.

Quick ball allowed Moffat to slip the ball to Kyle who flew up the blindside to touch down and leave the score at 19-7.

With the semi-final in sight Clydebank lost some composure and Mackie came back into the game scoring a converted try leading to a tense finish.

But strong defence in the closing stages helped Clydebank maintain their 19-14 lead and put them into the last four of the competition.

Clydebank 1st XV: Baxter, Shearer, Hill, Cuthbert, Ross, Starkey I, Andrew, McIntosh, Moffatt, McCombe, Watson, Bell, Dry, Miller, Starkey M, Baillie, Kyle, Moore, Dow, Flanagan.

IT was double celebrations on Saturday as the 2nd XV were crowned West 2nd XV Division 6 Champions.

As soon as the game kicked off the team had the point they needed to win the title and set about making it a day to remember with a solid performance.

Two tries from the retiring Matt McCann got the game going off to a flying start before another five scores led to a resounding victory.

The other scores came from Jamie Boyd, David Smart, Colin May, Ronnie McKee and Connor Sloss.

New start Colin May played well throughout and added three conversions to his try.

The 2nd XV squad will now look forward to playing in Division 5 where the competition will be much fiercer but will look to continue their excellent form into next year.

Clydebank 2nd XV: Laird, McKee, Murphy, Sloss, G Smart, Coyle, McCann, Boyd, Roberts, Campbell, Fraser, May, Smart D, Donnelly, Douglas, Findlay, Taylor, Kirkwood, Montgomery.

The mini section completed their second week of matches when they were invited by Greenock Wanderers to compete in a set of matches with Greenock and Waysiders Drumpellier.

Clydebank fielded three teams consisting of P2-P4, P5 and P6/P7.

All the kids enjoyed themselves with a few tries being scored.

The youth rugby continues with Mini training on Sundays at 12 noon and the Midi section continuing to train on Tuesday nights at 6:00pm.

The club would like to attract sponsors for the Mini and Midi teams and would encourage any potential sponsors to come forward.

Anyone wishing to play or sponsor one of the Mini or Midi teams should contact Gordon McCombe on 07812 582775.

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