1XV v Edinburgh University at Lochshore

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Garnock hosted Edinburgh University Blues in the first game in 2012 at Lochshore last Saturday with Mark Thompson, Harry Wallace, Angus Collins and Mathew Blackwood restored to the squad for this return encounter.

Earlier in the season Garnock had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the students in Edinburgh. However, the improving Garnock squad were looking to give a better account in the return fixture.

EU Blues kicked off towards the Kilbirnie town end and were immediately turned towards their own 22-metre area by a huge Rory Walker punt. This started a concentrated spell of Garnock pressure lasting for ten minutes. In the second minute Garnock won a lineout through Calum Robertson and James Gibb drove powerfully towards the Blues line but the defence held tight.

A darting break by Rory Walker was halted close to the try line, a good handling movement involving all the threequarters was thwarted by a last ditch tackle forcing the ball into touch and a concerted drive of some 25 metres by the pack were the Garnock highlights of this period. The well managed University withstood these Garnock attacks.

In the 11th minute, the Blues finally managed to get into the Garnock half and immediately showed why they were in mid-table position with a penetrating threequarter movement, which brought about a penalty for the visiting side when Garnock were penalised for not rolling away. From 30 metres out, centre Cuthbertson made no mistake and Garnock found themselves three points in arrears with 13 minutes played.

From the restart Garnock returned to their attacking ways. Quick ball from a scrum released Danny Irvine but the winger was stopped and bundled into touch after 15 minutes. For the next ten minutes play dropped in intensity with both sides prone to kicking too much, resulting in play ping ponging between the two 22 metre areas and little constructive rugby being played.

Twenty seven minutes into the game, Edinburgh doubled their score when Garnock were penalised on their own 22-metre line for handling in the ruck. Cuthbertson again converted. This seemed to spur the students on and they began to put the Garnock defence under severe pressure. At the same time, Garnock’s pack were dominating the scrums and winning more than their share of lineouts. The loose play had honours shared due to two very fast back rows and powerful tackling.

Garnock won a series of penalties to take them into the Edinburgh half. From one such penalty on the Blues 10 metre line and in front of the posts Walker converted to bring the home side onto the scoreboard at 3 – 6 after 35 minutes played. There was no more scoring before the referee called halftime.

From the restart Garnock attacked the students line and two good breaks from Rory Walker and Matt Blackwood were only just stopped when a Garnock score looked possible.

After 45 minutes played the referee awarded a penalty for the Edinburgh side and Cuthbertson kicked the long-range penalty to make it 3 – 9 to the Blues. Play became scrappy for the next quarter of an hour with the only highlights being a good break by RoryWalker after 48 minutes, the hard tackling of captain Stuart Wilson and Harry Wallace and a good linking move by the Garnock centres and wingers. The Edinburgh defence was strong and withstood all Garnock could throw at them.

After 60 minutes of play the crucial Garnock score arrived. Garnock were awarded a scrum about 25 metres from the Blues line after a knock-on. The scrum was duly won. Ewan Perry fed Rory Walker. Nothing appeared to be on, but the stand off spied a gap and shimmied his way over the line to score under the posts. After converting his own try, Garnock moved into the lead by 10 – 9.

For the remainder of the game both sides produced some exciting rugby, which kept the final result in question right to the end. Rory Walker had another darting break snubbed out. The Blues started to run the ball more often forcing the Garnock backs into making plenty of telling tackles. Rucks and mauls became fiercely contested and lineouts were being hard fought. Individual breaks were becoming more frequent. Both sides were looking to score from anywhere on the field of play but the defences held firm.

The game ended with Cuthbertson just failing to convert a penalty from some 45 metres out on the touchline and referee Morrison sounding no-side with Garnock winning a hard-fought victory at 10 – 9.

After the game a happy Coach, Paul Johnston, said, “The boys put in a great performance. Our discipline was back to the standards that it should be and our defensive system worked well as Edinburgh University never managed to work an overlap and get on the outside of us.”