Tennent's West One

DALZIEL 21

GARNOCK 49

By Tom Dickson

GARNOCK travelled to Motherwell to face Dalziel in near-perfect weather conditions on Saturday.

From the kick-off, Garnock attacked the home try line. They went ahead in two minutes when Keir Walker sped over after some fine work by the Garnock forwards. He converted the try to make it 7-0.

Two minutes later Tony Woods scored in the corner to round off a sweeping play involving the hard running Garnock backs. The difficult kick was missed.

Dalziel soon began to show they could compete with Garnock in running the ball at every opportunity. They made their mark when Alex Mowat powered over to score near the posts. The conversion brought the score to 12-7 after eight minutes.

The pace of the game dropped a little for the next few minutes with Garnock always looking to run the ball at every chance. Woods was unlucky to be hauled down when almost through and the pack were beginning to dominate in the set-pieces.

Garnock went further ahead when Walker converted an easy penalty awarded for offside in 13 minutes to make it 15-7.

From the restart the ball was kicked directly into touch, giving Garnock the scrum on the halfway line. Winning the scrum and feeding to the backs, Garnock camped well inside the Dalziel 22-metre area. Johnny Watson and Rory Dominy were winning the lineouts and the scrums were still going Garnock’s way.

With half-time looming, Dalziel’s centre, Glover, picked up a loose ball and sprinted 60 metres to score a try near the touchline. The conversion was good and the score at 15-14 rather flattered the home side. There was still time for Garnock to mount an attack to the home line. Chris Neil and Jared Reekie initiated a play inside the 22-metre area and released Dominy to score in the corner. The conversion was missed but the score of 2-0-14 looked a better result for Garnock’s dominance.

The second part of the game saw Garnock dominating most of the play and they continued to play a fast-open game of rugby. Dalziel continued to tackle well but the scores kept coming from the visitors.

Walker scored his second try in 42 minutes when he dodged his way through the home defence. Reekie rounded off a great Garnock handling movement in 46 minutes to push the score to 30-14.

Ten minutes later /Dominy scored from a loose maul when he was first to react and powered over, Walker converter and Garnock were further ahead at 37-14.

On the hour, Ally Anderson, playing in his first game of the season, cut loose from 50 metres and weaved his way to score at the posts. Walker converted and Garnock were well ahead at 44-14.

For the next 15 minutes Dalziel came more into the game and Garnock were forced to defend much deeper. They were pinned inside their danger area and only stout defending and relieving kicks from Neil kept Dalziel from scoring.

With time running out Garnock won a scrum near the halfway line. Walker brought the ball away and fed to Reekie. The centre scored well out.

Dalziel came back at Garnock. They won a penalty 20 metres out and ran the ball for Lewis Henderson to score near the touchline. The conversion was made.

The Garnock squad on the day was Wynn, Armstrong, Shiells, Watson, McGeachy, Miller A, Miller DR, Dominy, Chapman, Woods, Brocket, Perry, Johnston, Anderson, Reekie, Trodden, Neil and Walker.

Next Saturday Garnock play Irvine Rugby Club at Marress with a 3 o’clock start.