KRFC 8 v WIGTOWNSHIRE 26

Last Saturday the visitors to Bellsland were newly promoted Wigtownshire and it was the visitors who took the spoils with a 26-8 victory.
Kilmarnock’s woes started as they kicked out on the full into a stiff breeze to give ‘shire a scrum on the halfway line. The number eight picked up and the ball was passed to the scrum-half onto the stand-off who kicked up field, Frazer Corrance fielded the ball and made a forty metre break and forced a Kilmarnock scrum. Out to Connor Turnbull playing at stand-off then to Sean McCafferty and the ball was knocked on. The game continued with the visiting side forcing their way into Kilmarnock territory with the home side defending stoutly. From a lineout Kilmarnock advanced through the forwards and won a penalty, Craig McWhirter kicked to the corner for a home lineout but it was lost. ‘shire cleared for another home lineout and Ross Murray mounted an attack linking with his half backs then Morton Sinclair passed to Robbie Colman who kicked ahead and a penalty was given to Kilmarnock. From inside the twenty-two Craig McWhirter’s attempt was wide of the posts.

The deadlock was broken minutes later when Frazer Corrance kicked ahead with Ian Kerr in pursuit, the ball was shipped to the number eight who eluded a tackler and passed to the hooker who raced in for a converted try after seventeen minutes. 7-0 to ‘shire.

The teams shared possession for the next fifteen minutes and then Kilmarnock opened their account following a break by Ross Murray who fed Sean McCafferty who passed to Morton Sinclair who raced in from six metres. Craig McWhirter missed the conversion 7-5 the score after thirty four minutes.

The half ended with Kilmarnock pressing but unable to add any further points.

With the wind in their favour Kilmarnock fielded the restart kick and opted to run the ball and lost possession. Wrong decision and from the scrum ‘shire moved the ball with Robbie Colman making an interception feeding Craig McWhirter who kicked to gain ground with a favourable bounce. A slow put in and another ten metres for back chatting gave Kilmarnock a lineout which was lost at the tail in the windy conditions. Wigtownshire kicked into the wind for a short lineout which Kilmarnock won with Frazer Corrance setting off on another run backed up by Niall Murphy and Connor Turnbull ending in a tap penalty to Kilmarnock who continued to press. ’shire knocked on in a lineout and from the scrum, inside centre Robbie Paxton was tackled and a penalty won at the ruck. From thirty one metres in front Craig McWhirter missed the penalty.
The drop out twenty-two was collected by Ross Murray and a high tackle on Robbie Colman led to a penalty to Kilmarnock. Ian Kerr was substituted by Ethan MacIsaac who converted the wind assisted penalty to give Kilmarnock the lead 8-7 midway through the half.

From the restart Sean McCafferty fielded and passed to Kieran Pattie who was tackled and penalised. ‘shire took a quick tap penalty with the stand-off making ground and his pass to the fullback resulted in a try. The conversion gave ‘shire a 14-8 lead with thirteen minutes played.

Ewan Caldwell took to the field replacing Craig McWhirter. Kilmarnock won a penalty after the restart but lost another lineout. ‘shire moved the ball swiftly through their inside centre and won a penalty. A tap and go was taken by the number eight and from the ruck the ‘shire forwards scored a pushover try with no conversion. Score 19-8.

Kilmarnock tried in vain to breach the ‘shire defence with forward rushes from Victor Murray and others. A promising home attack went astray when a pass should have been made and led to a turnover for ‘shire. Blair McMillan replaced Kieran Pattie and Craig McWhirter replaced Connor Turnbull. The visiting side upped their game in the closing minutes and were full of running compared to the home side. A penalty to ‘shire saw another tap and go result in the final try of the day converted to make the score 26-8.

Kilmarnock won the ball from the restart and gained a penalty which was kicked out for a lineout. Yet again the lineout was lost and ‘shire kicked to touch to end the game.

Captain Craig Sheppard was vociferous at the post-mortem huddle saying the effort was better but more bodies are needed to secure the ball at the breakdown. Coach Ryan Andrews asked for more commitment at training, the season has a long way to go. Coach Stuart Pratt highlighted the poor decision making on the field saying we only work in patches and named Sean McCafferty Kilmarnock Man of the Match.