West Region Rugby - Scotland: West League Update (West 1)

A few interesting results at the weekend in West 1, but with no real surprises, though we do have a change at both the top and bottom of the table.

In the predictor challenge, the results basically went the way of the cumulative responses, except for the draw between Cambuslang and Annan, where Annan were marginal favourites. The main surprise was the margin of the Glens win where the Predictor entries had them as clear favourites - they got the win, but failed to pick up a bonus point.

With the EK v Garnock game off due to a waterlogged pitch, Greenock moved back to the top of the table following their 56-12 win over Dalziel. The weekends other results means that Dalziel drop to the foot of the table, having won only one game from six.

Glens move up to third with their win over Stewartry, but without the bonus point, they’re now five points behind Greenock but only two behind East Kilbride. Garnock drop to fourth, 8 behind Greenock.

For the second week running we had a draw in West 1, this time it was Annan on their trip to Cambuslang. Annan spent most of the game playing catch-up with Cambuslang on the scoreboard, and by the sounds of it they both had chances to steal the win in the final few minutes with opportunities to kick at goal.

Annan and Cambuslang remain in fifth and sixth, with Cambuslang closing the gap as they picked up a four try bonus point.

Irvines 19-3 against Strathendrick means they open up a bit of a gap on both Stewartry and Strathendrick, now 6 points clear in 7th place.

Kilmarnocks narrow win at Cumnock means they‘re both on 8 points, three clear of Dalziel at the foot.

Predictor Challenge
Next weekend we have a couple of crackers - one at the top and one at the bottom.

Garnock v Greenock is surely game of the day which sees fourth hosting top. Greenock are the leagues top point scorers, whilst Garnock are the meanest in defence - this should be interesting. A win for Garnock will really put the cat amongst the pigeons at the top of the table, but we’re going for an away win.

Second place East Kilbride travel to Fintry looking for revenge for their Shield defeat. Since this game though, it’s Strathendrick who have been struggling whilst EK have found a bit of form. We're going for an away win.

Third place Glens welcome Irvine, whose tails should be up after their win last weekend, but their away form isn’t great, so it’s a home win for us.

Annan host Stewartry where we're expecting a home win, but Stewartry should take a fair bit of confidence in keeping the Glens scoreline tight - that’s the fewest points Glens have scored in the league this season.

Cambuslang make the trip to Kilmarnock who are looking to build on their recent uptick in form. We’re not sure what to make of Cambuslang so far this season - they’ve lost heavily to both Greenock and Glens but by only a point to EK and have now picked up a draw against Annan. So their three losses have been against the current top 3, but they’ve also had tight wins against Stewartry and Irvine. We’ll go with an away win, but won’t be surprised if we’re wrong on this one.

At the foot of the table we have Dalziel hosting 11th placed Cumnock. They’ve got one win a piece, but neither are scoring many points (Dalziel 96 from 6 and Cumnock 124 from 7). In the past few weeks, Dalziel have lost to Greenock, East Kilbride and Garnock whilst Cumnock narrowly lost to Kilmarnock last weekend, whilst also losing to East Kilbride and Annan - so some pretty tough games between them. Despite the rain recently, the pitch at Dalziel will be a good running surface, so this could come down to the team who can use pace out wide - will go with home advantage.