Sunday, 27 October 2019

West Region Update - 27 October 2019

A win for Glens keeps them top of West 1, but Kilmarnock, Garnock and EK keep up the pressure.

It's tight at the foot of the table, but a draw between Cambuslang and Annan allows them to open a bit of a gap on Strathendrick and Irvine.


West 1

Allan Glens took a further step towards the West 1 title with a win against another of their contenders, a 38 - 18 victory over Lenzie.  Glens are 6 from 6, with 6 bonus points, putting them five points ahead of Kilmarnock in second and 11 ahead of Stewartry in third.

But it's not done and dusted by any means, as both East Kilbride and Garnock have games in hand on Glens. They each have one defeat to their names, but they both have Glens to face home and away.  The way the fixture list has turned out several of these game fall after Christmas, with a number in the last few weeks of the season.

But the title race isn't just about these three Clubs.  For instance, Kilmarnock in second, have East Kilbride, Glens and Garnock each to face before the Christmas break.  Sure, Kilmarnock have lost a couple of games this season (Glens and EK), but their defeat to EK was by three points, and they have also taken the scalp of Garnock.  And whilst Lenzie might be licking their wounds after the weekends defeat to Glens seeing themselves in 6th place, they can re-assure themselves that whilst they have lost three games, that includes a single point defeat to Garnock and six points defeat against EK.

Glens are favourites, but there's plenty of competition for the West 1 title again this season.

At the foot of the table, we have Irvine and Strathendrick on 6 points, both suffering heavy defeats at the weekend.  They're three points behind Cambuslang, who had a draw at home gainst Annan.  It was a tough start to the season for Cambuslang, but they're picking up some crucial points recently, as well as making it to the semi-final of the Shield, which sees them playing Glens next week.  A point further ahead is Annan.

It's possibly too early in the season, but the relegation battle does look to be between these four.  November is looking tough for them, so picking up bonus points will be important, whilst games against each other will make potential massive difference to their league standing.

It's Shield semi-finals next weekend (9th November), so a reduced West 1 fixture card, which include Stewartry v Irvine, Kilmarnock v Annan and Strathendrick v Lenzie.



West 2

Strathaven retain the lead at the top of West 2 with a big win at WD (68-5), whilst Cumnock kept up the pressure with a tight win at Clydebank (though they failed to pick up a try bonus).

Dalziel however are the only team unbeaten in the league so are probably slight favourites for the title.  Their 48-14 win at Uddingston means they're seven points behind Strathaven, but have two games in hand.

The weekends other game saw Helensburgh visiting Stranraer to take on Wigtownshire.  With wins for Helensburgh against Oban and Clydebank in recent weeks, this looked likes it should be a decent contest.  Unfortunately, Helensburgh only travelled with 12 players, so this was about playing for pride as opposed the result, and ensuring the game was fulfilled.  The results not important, but Shire will be well pleased with the points, as it moves them ahead of Burgh, and to within one point of WD.

It's Shield semi-final next weekend (9th November), with Strathaven playing East Kilbride, which gives the title chasers a chance to close the gap on the league leaders.

Cumnock travel to Wigtownshire, Dalziel travel to Helensburgh, Oban welcome Uddingston and Paisley travel to Coatbridge to play WD - so it's four of the title contenders against four involved in the relegation battle.  Will they all be one sided affairs, or will we get some surprises along the way.




West 3

Now if we have our Conference tables correct (which we're not guaranteeing), the top of Pool Oui is looking pretty tight whilst we have Lochaber and Loch Lomond breaking clear of the rest in Pool G.

In Pool Oui, the weekend saw wins for the top 3, Uni Medics, Birkmyre and Mull, whilst Bishopton in fourth lost out to Uni Medics.  There are only 6 points between these four, so plenty to play for in this Conference.  

In Pool G, the Loch Lomond game was off as Cumbernauld were unable to field a team, which gave Lochaber the chance to move to the top of table.  A bonus point win away at Cowal puts Lochaber two points ahead of Lomond, but Lomond have a game in hand.  

A win for Moffat away at Hyndland means they jump ahead of their weekends opponents, and only one point behind Cumbernauld. Having led 17 nil at half-time, we're guessing Hyndland will be a tad disappointed with the result.

No games this coming weekend, but then we have Birkmyre playing Uni Medics in the Bowl semi-final (kick-off 1:30 pm), and in the league we have Cowal v Lanark, Cumbernauld v Mull, Lochaber v Bishopton and Loch Lomond v Shawlands.

A word of caution on our West 3 table - we're guessing at the try bonus points

Women 

In the Womens competitions, it was only National 1 which had games this weekend.  Stewartry had a big win against Glasgow Uni, which keeps them in third ahead of Howe of Fife who drew with Annan.


There's a full fixture list this weekend coming across the Womens Premiership, National 1 and West league.


Previous West Updates:

19th October 2019
14th October 2019
6th October 2019
22nd September 2019

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