West League Update - West 2 - 02 April 2018

There’s four Clubs still duking it out at the top of West 2, all with wins at the weekend, but Lenzie gain a small advantage by being the only one to claim a four try bonus point.

West Results 31st March 2018

Lenzie had a big win at Clydebank, but we’re guessing the other challengers each got a bit of a fright when they were taken down to the wire by their opponents.

Leaders Paisley won 8 nil at a cold, wet and breezy Cumbernauld.  The conditions didn’t really allow for an open and expansive game, and at the end of the 80 minutes there wasn’t that much in it.  Paisley had a try disallowed first half and a penalty kick come off the post second half, whilst Cumbernauld missed three penalty kicks, two coming back off the post.  It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but Paisley will take the four points and get ready for their upcoming match against Strathendrick.

Cumnock also faced a big challenge as Millbrae are able to draft in some of their duel registered players who become available as Ayrs competitive season winds down.  No bonus point for Cumnock, but a win against a decent set of young players should give them a great deal of confidence going in to the final weeks of the season.

With Waysiders having struggled to field a team the last couple of weeks, Strathendrick probably reckoned they already had this one in the bag.  Endrick did win, but only 16 points to nil, significantly different from the 74 points they put passed WD a few weeks earlier.

Paisley lead the pack, three ahead of Lenzie, but Lenzie have played a game more.  Cumnock are 7 points behind but have two games in hand, whilst Strathendrick are 11 behind, but with four games in hand.

* League table since revised, see footnote.

The big game this coming weekend sees Strathendrick visiting Paisley - it’s the first time they meet in the league this season and could go either way.  Cumnock host Loch Lomond, who they beat 37 nil a couple of weeks ago so they’ll be looking for another win. Lenzie have a free weekend.  The results this weekend won’t decide who wins the league, but each will be crucial in the title battle.

At the foot of the table, Loch Lomond had an important win away at Uddingston, whilst their other competitors lost, though Millbrae, Clydebank and Birkmyre each gained a lose bonus point.  Birkmyre are 17 points adrift so almost certainly down to West 3, but it’s much closer in the battle for the second drop spot.

Millbrae are currently 11th, with 14 points, 12 behind Clydebank, but they have four games in hand.  With the availability of their duel registered players, Millbrae have a decent chance of remaining in West 2.  Clydebank themselves are 6 points behind both Loch Lomond and Waysiders. They have a game in hand on WD, but have played one more than Loch Lomond.

Clydebank have no game this weekend, so their competitors can make gains on them.  Millbrae are away at Uddingston, WD are hosting Strathaven and Loch Lomond are away a Cumnock.  It will be a big ask for Loch Lomond to get a win a Cumnock, but Millbrae and WD could come away with wins.

We had expected that having been unable to fulfil a couple of games , WD would have received a points deduction, but this doesn’t seem to have been put through.  With the closeness of the contest for the second relegation place, this could be crucial.

The dual registration issue seems to be generating a bit of a discussion on the blog, on facebook and on twitter.  Millbrae are beneficiaries at the moment, whilst we’d guess Shawlands in West 3 probably are as well, but we’re wondering how many other Clubs take advantage of this Championship rule.

West 1 Update
West 3 Update

Footnote:
The SRU website is showing updates to the West 2 league table on 5th April.
Waysiders Drumpellier have been docked 7 points (we had anticipated four), which drops them one point behind Clydebank and 11 ahead of Millbrae, but Millbrae have 5 games in hand.