S1 Tournament – Cumnock 25/3/12

On a perfect day for rugby Kilmarnock S1's headed to Cumnock for the West Region S1 festival.

With S1 sides from as far apart as Helensburgh and Dumfries taking part there was over 150 players and coaches basking in the sunshine between games.

The festival was based on the 'fair play' format with the 'overall winner' being the side gaining most points for skills and sportsmanship. Each game lasted 20 minutes.

The Kilmarnock S1's were to play old local rivals Marr and Cumnock with the unknown Dumfries side last up.

Marr were the first opponents and both sides looked a little rusty at the start, with Marr scoring straight from the kick off, their outside center putting the Marr right wing into space for the first try.

Kilmarnock scored straight from the restart with Grant punching deep into the Marr half with a lung bursting run, quickly recycled ball put Rory into space and a trademark step put him over for the try.

The next five minutes were very even, with attacking play from both sides going unrewarded. Marr were next to score, profiting from a knock on by Kilmarnock at a ruck. The Kilmarnock boys came back strongly, and a couple of missed opportunities went on to hurt them as Marr broke upfield to score, not once but twice.

From a restart, Blair broke a couple of tackles and made good ground into the Marr half, but again poor control of the ball at the breakdown cost Kilmarnock as Marr worked a well supported try from just outside their own 22.

The whistle blew with Kilmarnock on the attack to leave the final score:

The Kilmarnock coach was pleased to see the improvement in the Kilmarnock play after going down to a heavy defeat at Marr just 2 weeks previously.

Kilmarnock’s' next opponents were Cumnock, both sides play each other on a regular basis and the games were always close.

Kilmarnock kicked off and Cumnock ran the ball back deep into the Kilmarnock 22, with the Cumnock second row being tackled into touch by Kilmarnock full back James. From the line out Kilmarnock ran the ball into the Cumnock half through Matthew and Rory, the move coming to an end when Kyle was bundled into touch.

From the line out Cumnock recycled the ball and got it wide their winger fed the ball back inside to one of the Cumnock second row who drove over with what seemed the whole Kilmarnock pack on his back to score.

From the restart Danny broke into the Cumnock 22, quick service from Adam to the stand off David, gave David the time to throw a miss pass to Rory who offloaded in the tackle to set full back James away to score.

Cumnock scored next, profiting from some more mishandling at a ruck by Kilmarnock, taking the quick tap penalty and scoring wide out on the left.

The next 5 minutes were end to end and resulted in a score for Kilmarnock when Rory stepped back inside the onrushing Cumnock defender and ran in for the score.

Cumnock scored next from a well worked scrummage move, with the scrum half using the winger on the narrow side to score in the corner.

As time was running out, Kilmarnock worked there way back into the Cumnock 22 and scored with full back James going over in the corner.

The whistle blew with scrum half Adam nursing a sore head from an accidental clash of heads. The final score was:

In the final game Kilmarnock faced Dumfries, who from the spectators point of view had the tallest pack of all the teams there.

With Adam off due to his head knock, Matthew moved to scrum half, Blair to outside center and Cumnock 'loaned' us a No.8 called Logan.

Rory caught the ball from the Dumfries kick off and accelerated right, with Mikey and James in support, he went past the Dumfries winger on the outside and ran in for the score under the posts. On a day where Kilmarnock conversions were a rare sight, Rory popped this one over.

From the restart Dumfries fed one of their tall second rows who was felled by Johnny. The ball went forward in the tackle and was quickly recovered by Kilmarnock, Matthew fed Blair who broke 2 tackles and ran in from the half way for Kilmarnock's second score. Rory converted again.

Again Dumfries fed their second row the restart and again he was felled by Johnny, the ball was yet again knocked forward in contact. From the scrummage, Matthew fed David who set Blair off on a charge. Dumfries had no answer to his direct power running and he scored under the posts. This time Alistair converted. (Bit like buses, none all day and 3 come along at once).

Kilmarnock worked the restart into the Dumfries 22, but a bit of loose handling let the Dumfries left winger away, although well tackled by James, the Dumfries player was able to off load to his support who crossed for the try.

Grant took the ball from the restart and barnstormed his way deep into the Dumfries half, the ball came back loose on the Kilmarnock side and some quick hands set Rory away, he stepped inside the covering defence and scored his second try.

The next 5 minutes the sides traded possession, Dumfries scoring a breakaway try when Kilmarnock let their attention slip at a penalty, a quick tap and a couple of good passes put the second row in for an unconverted score.

The final score of the game came when Rory picked up a loose ball and left the tiring Dumfries back line in his wake to score his hat trick try.

The whistle blew with the final score:

With this game being the final match of the festival, the organisers held a small prize giving – the overall winners were Marr and 4 players from the teams attending being given medals for outstanding play, with Kilmarnock's Rory McMurry picking up one of these.

Thanks must be give to the players, Mikey and Ross for playing in their 3rd and 1st games of rugby, Logan for helping us out and to Kyle for going to play with Helensburgh when they were a man short.

Lastly, a thanks to the parents who turned up and gave the boys a big lift with their vocal support.