There was no game for West 1 league leaders East Kilbride on Saturday so it was a chance for the chasing pack to close the gap.
Allan Glens were away at in-form Irvine, it was tight, but Glens managed to secure the bonus point win. Game of the day however took place at Fort Matilda where fourth placed Greenock Wanderers welcomed second placed Garnock. Both have been scoring plenty of points and conceding few, so again it looked like being tight. Greenock won this one 23-18, but there was no try bonus-point for either though Garnock do pick up a lose bonus point.
As a result, Garnock fall from second to fourth with Glens up to second and Greenock to third. Glens are 8 points behind EK, but with two games in hand. Greenock are another two behind, again with two games in hand on EK. Garnock are now 11 points behind EK, but with only one game in hand.
EK have the points in the bag, which gives them an advantage, whilst both Glens and Greenock have a better points difference than EK. Garnock have now lost their last two games, but they should not be discounted. They have Glens and EK still to play so certainly not out of it.
This weekend coming, EK have a difficult game against Irvine, whilst the chasers have games they'll be looking to pick up wins in.In the mid-table battle between Stewartry and Annan, it was Annan who won 23-22, winning the Chisholm Cup in the process.
In the relegation battle, Kilmarnock had a massive 36-24 victory against Cambuslang - this sees them move ahead of Cambus. Cambuslang have only three games remaining - Dalziel, Garnock and Strathendrick - the big question is how many more points do they need to ensure West 1 safety.
The game between Cumnock and Dalziel was off, supposedly for a frozen pitch, yet the televised football match a mile up the road from the new 3G pitch at Broomfield was seemingly unaffected - strange micro-climate down the Cumnock/Auchenleck neck of the woods.
The relegation battle is already intriguing, but we have the added jeopardy of not knowing if a West Club is coming down from National 3 (Hillhead Jordanhill lost again on Saturday, and are only three points off a relegation spot).
Dalziel look certain to be down, but they do have nine games remaining, four of which are against other Clubs involved in the relegation battle - it might be unlikely, but it would be some feat if they avoided relegation.
League leaders East Kilbride host Irvine this weekend. We're going with a home win in the Predictor Challenge, but as we've seen in recent results, Irvine will cause them some issues.
Second placed Glens visit Annan, which should be an away win, though Annan have won their last two games.
Third placed Greenock visit Strathendrick which should be another away win, whilst fourth placed Garnock host Cumnock - home win for us.
The remaining two games could have a big impact on relegation positions.
We've already gone for both Endrick and Cumnock losing against their title contender opponents, so Kilmarnocks home game against Stewartry is a chance for them to open up a bit of gap of those below them. Stewartry are in 8th, but with 38 points are surely safe, even if three do go down - however they have lost their last three games. We're going with home advantage due to the fact that Kilmarnock have more motivation to get the win.
In the last game we have Dalziel v Cambuslang. Cambuslang won their first encounter in October (28-20), but they look to have won only one game since then. Dalziel haven't won any in that time, but their recent results suggest to us that something is stirring. They put 27 points past EK and stopped Greenock picking up a four try bonus. We're going with Dalziel, but realise that might be a brave call based on their results so far this season.
Re your comment on the strange micro-climate in the Cumnock/Auchinleck area.
ReplyDeleteNot really strange, Talbot putting one over on Ayr United is far-more important than a crucial rugby relegation battle.
Just saying like.