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

Before we get started with our West 1 update (it is only a short one after all), congratulations to both Greenock Wanderers and Dalziel who have made it to the finals of the West Regional Shield, which is scheduled to take place at Scotstoun Stadium on 8th December.

West Regional Results - 17th November 2018

The semi-final at the Bearyards was very much the proverbial game of two halves. Playing into the wind in the first half, Greenock had the lions share of territory and possession and made the most of this with a couple of tries & conversions as well as a couple of penalties. It wasn’t all Greenock though as Glens kept themselves in the game with a couple of penalties.

At half-time, it had the feel of a game where Greenock would take advantage of the wind at their backs and consolidate their 20 points to 6 lead. But we're guessing there were some stern words exchanged at half-time in the Glens huddle, as they came out with a renewed intensity, adding a couple of tries to their points tally (neither converted) and exerting plenty of pressure on the visitors defence.

At the final whistle, it was Greenock who were victors, but they were scoreless in the second half, so at 20-16, it was much closer than we were anticipating at half-time.

As with Greenocks game against East Kilbride a couple of weeks ago, this was a match dominated by both teams smashing it up around the breakdown and in midfield off of 10, but not much in the way of creative play out wide. Both teams defend aggressively and use power in an effort to break down the opposition.

The Predictor Challenge had Glens as favourites, so we had 78% of entrants getting it wrong. For the second semi-final, Kilmarnock were even stronger favourites, being backed by nearly 83% of entrants, so a 24-12 win for Dalziel makes a right mess of this weeks percentages.

It sounds like it was a tousy old cup match, with Dalziel having a big chunk of possession and making the most of their chances. A few handbags were waved as well as a couple of cards, whilst we had a penalty try and uncontested scrums.

The two meet again this weekend on league business, and Kilmarnock will be looking to reduce the error count, but with Dalziel improving week by week, as well as gaining confidence from this result, it’s going to be a tough old battle for the young team from Kilmarnock.

In the league, we only had two matches, with the results going pretty much as expected, even if the margin of victory were larger than anticipated.

It was always going to be tough for Cambuslang who welcomed third place East Kilbride for their derby game. Apart from the recent visit to Glens, most of Cambuslangs games this season have been reasonably tight, including losing by just a point to EK in the first game of the season. So at 70 points to 14 in EKs favour, this result will be a big disappointment for the men from Coats Park. Cambus will be looking for a pick me up this Saturday, but with a trip to Greenock, they’re perhaps hoping this is the game the Fort Matilda members have decided to make a pilgrimage to Murrayfield.

The other game saw 8th placed Stewartry hosting 9th placed Strathendrick, where a win for the visitors could have seen the two swap positions – however …

… a 120 – 12 win for the hosts means this isn’t going to be happening in the next couple of weeks at least.

It’s been a strange season for Endrick, four wins from 11 is not too shabby for a team just up from West 2, but whilst they have had a few decent wins (including EK in the Shield), they’ve also had some heavy defeats. Fair enough it was an autumn test weekend, but if they’re wanting to stay in West 1, they’ll need to tighten up their defence, especially away from home. Luckily for them (not), they’ll probably be getting a bit of “D” practice this weekend when they welcome league leaders Glens.

There are five league games this weekend. Greenock v Cambuslang and Endrick v Glens should see both of the title challengers adding bonus point wins to their tally. EK welcome Stewartry, which we have down as a home win, but we'll be keeping an eye on this one to see if the weekends result is an indication of changes at Stewartry as opposed to shortcoming from Endrick.

Garnock v Annan is an interesting one. There’s only eight points between them, though in recent weeks Annans results have included a couple of defeats. We’re going with home advantage, but over the last few weeks, Autumn test games do seem to have affected player availability across a number of Clubs, whilst early kick-offs and injuries all seem to be having an anecdotal impact on Clubs, so this could be tight.

The final game is a repeat of last weekends semi-final at Dalziel Park. A decent October saw Kilmarnock pick up a couple of wins, as well as a draw against Greenock, but they have now lost four on the bounce (though these did include Annan and Glens). Meanwhile, Dalziel have struggled to come to terms with life in West 1, but recent results (except for the Glens game) have been closer suggesting they're settling down to the task in hand.

Saturdays semi-final result means Dalziel have beaten Kilmarnock twice this season. It’s a must win for both Clubs – we’re going with current form and home advantage, but this could go either way.

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