A BRAVE effort from Cumnock is not enough to stop a powerful Oban Lorne pack.
Normally teams travelling to Oban arrive with a certain stiffness of limbs following the long bus journey. However, Cumnock inadvertently avoided this after arriving three hours early and having time to enjoy lunch in the “seafood capital of Scotland.”
As a result both teams were raring to go from the start and Cumnock made their intentions felt early on with a big hit from Scott Houston and Graham Hunter turning the ball over straight from the kick off. However, Oban re-gathered the ball and set their game plan in motion, keeping the ball tight and working their way up into a position where Cumnock gave away a penalty, giving the home side an early three point advantage.
Cumnock did not take this lying down and fired straight back up the park with Conor Nisbet carrying strongly in the midfield. The scrum was also extremely solid despite a major weight disadvantage with props Graham Montgomery and Donald Hunter bolstered by the return of second row Rab Cross to the side. Cumnock won a penalty of their own close to the right hand touchline but Craig McWhirter’s kick drifted narrowly wide.
However, Cumnock kept the pressure on and worked their way into Oban territory again. A break from the back of the scrum by number 8 David Kerr was followed by further burst from fellow back row Stuart Hunter. Oban gave away another penalty in their desperation to stop the Cumnock charge and Craig McWhirter stepped up to knock over the simple penalty to level the score.
However, Oban continued to dominate proceedings through their pack although Cumnock put in an admirable defensive effort led by Mick Harkin, making the most of his call up into the back row. An unlikely sight in the Cumnock side was the presence of regular hooker Graham Hunter on the wing and he brought his usual abrasive game to the wide channels with some tough tackles and strong carries.
Oban dominated possession in the second quarter and despite a couple of missed penalties they always looked the most likely team to score next. A rare moment of Cumnock ill discipline allowed Oban to kick into the corner and after a couple of drives managed to fragment the defence for the opening try of the game.
Buoyed by this breakthrough, the home side continued to press although Cumnock almost grabbed a try against the run of play when Findlay Hamilton made a burst from full back. However, his kick ahead trickled over the line allowing the covering defender to touch down to allow his team the chance to clear their lines.
It was to no one great surprise when Oban managed to grab a second try in a mirror image of their first, forcing their way over after a series of drives despite committed defence from Scott Houston and Donald Hunter.
The second half started brightly for Cumnock with half backs Craig McWhirter and Scott Houston sniping at the home defence. Conor Nisbet continued an assured performance at inside centre and was well supported by Martin Thomson at outside centre. Cumnock had an excellent early chance when Gavin Kerr made a scintillating break down the right wing after beating his opposite number. Some clever interplay with Houston kept the move alive but an excellent covering tackle eventually halted the momentum. The ball was recycled but a loose pass allowed Oban to hack the ball clear and clear the danger. Cumnock eventually got something to show for their efforts after a composed penalty kick from Craig McWhirter.
Oban’ powerful forward play brought them back into the game and they set up camp right on the Cumnock try line. However, Oban grew increasingly frustrated as they were unable to puncture the red and black wall of defenders with Paul Miller putting in a series of try saving tackles and Blair McMillan putting his body on the line to hold the line intact. The home side eventually spent ten minutes camped on the line but in the end a well organised drive broke through the heroic Cumnock defence for a try.
Cumnock kept on applying pressure of their own with Donald Hunter making some strong carries. A quick line out saw Houston release Martin Thomson who threw a well timed dummy pass which allowed him to glide between two defenders. He drew his marker and passed to replacement wing Johnny Seng who stood up his man and rounded him and crossed the line. Unfortunately the referee decided that Seng hadn’t grounded the ball properly and called for a scrum to Oban much to the disappointment of the travelling support.
Oban continued to challenge up front though and it took some more robust defence to hold them up with Andy McCrorie and Alan Smith both making an impression after coming off the bench.
However, two quick fire late tries both from driving mauls from the home side added a bit of gloss to the final score and gave the impression that the game had been considerably more one sided than it was. It was a far more spirited performance than Cumnock have been giving so far this season and hopefully it bodes well for the remainder of the league campaign.
Man of the match was captain David Kerr for a hard working performance from the back row although every player in the team put in a committed display in a very physical match.
Team: G.Montgomery, P.Miller, D.Hunter, B.McMillan, R.Cross, M.Harkin, S.Hunter, D.Kerr, C.McWhirter, S.Houston, G.Hunter, C.Nisbet, M.Thomson, G.Kerr, F.Hamilton
Subs: A.McCrorie, A.Smith, J.Seng
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