SUNDAY saw all three North Ayrshire rugby clubs’ Minis and Micros meet for a fixture at Garnock RFC.

Despite the recent storms, the pitches were in great condition and the weather dry enough for plenty of running rugby. Ardrossan Accies and Irvine RFC joined their hosts to create a series of livewire encounters.

The Ardrossan Micros enjoyed a frenetic few games of rugby, with tries being scored left, right and centre.

After a narrow loss to Irvine they managed to win their match against Garnock, much to the delight of coaches Ross McDougall and Jeffrey Anderson, both of whom imprinted the same brand of free-flowing rugby that they themselves produced for the Accies onto the youngsters. The stars of the day were young Rocco Frew, Lewis Anderson and John McMahon, with all of the boys thriving in the fast-paced nature of the match.

P4/5 Split in Accies Blue and Accies Black. Team Blue took on their Garnock hosts in tough, attritional game peppered with moments of speedy brilliance. A narrow loss ensued, but not for the wonderful effort shown by the team, in particular star players Adam Blake and CJ Tallan. Both of the lads were fearless amidst their confrontation with the bigger opposition players, scoring several tries apiece.

Accies Black engaged in an epic tussle with Irvine, with the game ending in a high scoring draw. Riley Anderson provided the necessary thrust to breach the opposition’s defensive lines, whilst Harry Dixon put in some first-class tackles in addition to providing his usual try-scoring runs. Both boys were named stars of the day along with Callan Tyler after another fearless display.

Accies P6 took on Garnock’s P6/7 team in a match that saw less tackling than the previous few but tries galore. The home team won the game by a few scores, but the Accies were never ones to go quietly into the night. With Josh Bleakley displaying admirable leadership, the Accies scrapped and tussled for the possession and the chance to run in tries of their own. Logan O’Moore again produced a defensive masterclass, with textbook perfect tackles raining in, one after the other. He joined Josh as star of the day along with Calum Monaghan – a lad described by his coaches as “a Rolls Royce of a player.”

Accies P7 played Irvine P7 in a lively encounter. In an abrasive first half, Irvine came away with the upper hand after some barnstorming runs through the Accies defence.

However, the Ardrossan outfit regathered after the interval and blew apart the opposition with some untouchable play. Stars of the day were Findlay Crawford, who marshalled Irvine’s powerful strike runner brilliantly, Lachlan Davis who cheerfully tied the defence up in knots on the way to the try line. They were joined by the razor-sharp Tom Monaghan, who once again picked off interception tries and dummied his way over for several crucial scores, putting the Accies out of sight at the final whistle.