ARDROSSAN Accies Minis and Micros braved the elements on Sunday and headed down to local rivals Cumnock for a fixture against their hosts and joint visitors Marr RFC.

Despite the winds and rain, the youngsters had a blast, playing some fantastic rugby in front of a healthy crowd of spectating parents.

The Micros in P1-P3 took on Cumnock in three successive games, drawing one and narrowly losing two.

Their youthful enthusiasm was a joy to behold as they tried mastering the art of passing, side-stepping and supporting each other during open play. Stars of the day were Lewis Anderson and Kara Preesapati, both of whom happily darted around the pitch all day long.

P4 had a slow start, but grew into the games against both teams as the day wore on. As the team's confidence grew, their performance soared with the youngsters producing some of their finest rugby to date courtesy of neat offloads from the tackle, switches and clever use of the open spaces. Stars of the day were Adam Blake – who bagged a hat-trick of tries - along with debutant Daryl Smith, who made a brilliant impact during his first taste of competitive rugby.

In fact, the latter was described as a “fearless, tackling machine” by his coaches and duly deserved his award.

P5 were less prolific and struggled to match the intensity as well as the organisation of their opposition. Both games were lost, but not without a fully committed defensive effort from Callan Tyler – who topped the tackle count by a considerable amount. Ryan McCulley was another Accie willing to take on the opposition and race to the try line, also collecting a star of the day award.

P6 put in two splendid performances against Ayrshire’s strongest teams.

After starting slowly against Marr, they came into the game thanks to the attacking play of Marcel Emmery, whose jinking runs and tenacious attitude saw him pick up a star of the day award.

The game was ultimately lost, but the Accies more than did themselves proud. The second game against Cumnock started with bang as the Accies raced into an early lead. Joshua Bleakley was imperious with ball in hand and at the ruck. His leadership skills were also seriously impressive and there was no denying him a star of the day award.

Cumnock eventually fought back to win the game, which turned out to be quite the thriller.