Garnock Lose to Premier One Title Challengers
Garnock travelled to Dundee to take on Dundee High Rugby Club at Mayfield in the Scottish Hydro Premier Cup. Dundee kicked off in very dreich conditions and immediately set their standard as a fast attacking side but it was Garnock who almost opened the scoring with a powerful drive from the forwards and a probing run by the threequarters. This early pressure seemed to awaken the Dundee side and when they won a line out at the Garnock 22 metre line after a quick tapped penalty the ball was driven to the Garnock line and Danny Levison, the No.8, was on hand to score the first try of the match. The conversion was missed and after 5 minutes the score was 5 – 0 in Dundee’s favour.From the resulting restart Garnock pressed into the home 22 area. They were awarded a penalty inside the Dundee half and Gareth McCrorie found touch about 20 metres out. With the line out won by Willie Clark the lighter Garnock pack drove the Dundee forwards back towards their own goal line. However, the street-wise Dundee side easily thwarted this move and several others. They gained possession from a Garnock kick and scored a second try after 10 minutes due to some slick interpassing which left winger Ross Lomon in the clear. The conversion was again missed.At this juncture the Garnock flanker, Ally Anderson, was stretchered off with a recurrence of a knee injury. He was replaced by Sean Robertson.The pattern of play saw Dundee with most of the ball gained mainly from Garnock kicks. The running of the home backs looked impressive but a combination of very tight Garnock defence and poor ball retention kept the score at 10 – 0 for the next 30 minutes.During this spell Garnock were holding their own in lineout, set scrums, ruck and maul. Two minutes before the end of the half they were awarded a penalty on the centre spot. The ball was played quickly and then chipped ahead by Paul McCrorie who seemed to win the chase for the try. French referee, Jean-Marie Burel, however disagreed with the Garnock support.Dundee came back at Garnock and won a line out on the Garnock 22 metre line. Their forwards launched a concerted rolling maul and hooker Jimmy Clark burst through to score mid way out. Barry Jones succeeded with the conversion and the half time whistle sounded with Dundee leading 17 – 0.The second half started with Dundee being awarded a penalty from which they found touch at the Garnock 22 metre line. The ball was won and transferred quickly out wide for Levison to score with a well-taken try. The conversion was missed.The next 20 minutes saw Dundee with the bulk of the possession with Garnock manfully defending. During this passage the Dundee handling was excellent and their back up play very good. What possession the Garnock squad had was ably handled by the tight Dundee defence.In the 57th minute after a scrum won in their own half, Dundee transferred the ball between backs and forwards to leave James Fleming an easy run in for a try. Jones was successful with the conversion and the score became 29 – 0.Play was evenly contested for the next 10 minutes with Stuart White and the McCrorie brothers showing some glimpses of what could happen if only Garnock could get more possession. The forwards were getting more of the loose ball but the handling of the greasy ball resulted in several knock ons resulting in set scrums.Dundee’s final score came after a period of Garnock possession was halted with the award of a penalty on the half way line. Jones kicked to the Garnock 22 metre line. The Dundee pack drove for the line and Stephan Dreyer battled his way over to score. Jones converted to make it 36 – 0.The remainder of the game saw Garnock with most of the possession but the Dundee defenders stopped promising breaks by Paul McCrorie, Stuart White, Peter Eadie and Sean Robertson. The final whistle sounded with Garnock camped near the Dundee line but a score was not to be.This Saturday sees Garnock embarking on their biennial rugby tour to support the Scotland team in Cardiff.