At half time, league leaders Kilmarnock were 21-10 up against Lenzie, so things looked reasonably comfortable, but within ten minutes of the restart, the deficit was cut, and it was game on. In the next ten minutes there was a try apiece which meant that with 20 minutes to go, there were four points in it. Unfortunately for Lenzie, that's the way the score stayed, a narrow win for the league leaders. The win keeps Kilmarnock one point ahead of Stewartry who had a 39-14 win away at Irvine.
It looks like it should be two points for Lenzie, but the SRU website have only given them a losing bonus point. They've played the same number of games as Kilmarnock, but are 14 points behind - is this now too many for Lenzie to be considered as part of the Championship battle?
There was another big game at the Bearyards where third place Glens welcomed East Kilbride. EK may be loads of points behind the leaders, but they do have four games in hand. A win against Glens would certainly have shaken things up. There was no score for 20 minutes in this contest, but then two tries in the space of three minutes gave Glens the upper hand which they never gave up, despite some strong pressure from EK. The game finished at 24-8 giving Glens a bonus point win, moving them onto 46 points; two behind Kilmarnock, but with a game in hand.
Garnock move ahead of Lenzie, following their 96-7 home win against Annan. They're 14 points behind Kilmarnock, but have three games in hand.East Kilbride are 24 points behind Kilmarnock, but with four games in hand, they're still in the Championship race.
The leagues other game saw bottom team Strathendrick visit second bottom Cambuslang. Our Predictor entrants had this one down as a home win, but it was always going to be tight.
Cambus probably had the lions share of the possession, but the Endrick defence was pretty solid. It was two tries a piece in the first half, but the visitors were ahead thanks to three successful penalty goals - 21-12.
The second half followed a similar pattern as the first, where Cambus had the greater possession, but strong defence meant their opportunities were kept to a minimum. Cambus did break down the defence in 56 minutes following a nice wee grubber that put the winger over in the corner. 24 minutes left, and there were four points in it.
The final quarter was a bit harem scarem, with both sides perhaps getting a bit anxious, where some cool heads may have paid more dividends. Endrick however held out and claim the victory moving them off the foot of the table, up to 8th.
Cambus now sit at the foot, but on the same points as Irvine, though Irvine do have a better points difference.
It's looking like the battle at both the top and bottom of the table will go right to the end of the season, with some cracking games again next weekend.
At the top, we have Kilmarnock visiting Fintry to take on Strathendrick. This looks like another hard defensive shift for Endrick, and we're going for an away win for this weekend Predictor Challenge. East Kilbride v Irvine looks to be of a similar vein where the team struggling at the foot of the table will have their work cut-out - home win for us. The remaining games are a bit more difficult to call.
Stewartry v Garnock is 2nd v 4th. Garnock are averaging more ponts per game, but Stewartry are averaging more try bonus points per game. Both Clubs are conceding (on average) only 13 points a game. This is going to be tight, so we're going with home advantage.
Lenzie v Glens is 5th v 3rd. Glens are scoring loads and conceding not very many, and won the encounter earlier in the season. Lenzie however have run Kilmarnock, Stewartry, Garnock and EK close in their games so far this season. Glens are favourites, but we don't expect there to be much in it, and it's a derby, so could be feisty. We'll go away win (just).
The Annan v Cambuslang game is 7th v 10th. There's 8 points between them, but Cambus have a game in hand. The table suggests this should be a home win, but they're coming off a heavy defeat at the weekend, and Cambuslang weren't too far off a win on Saturday. We're going out on a limb with an away win.
West 2
Whilst the top three in West 1 all won, the opposite is true in West 2 - Strathaven, Dalziel and Cumnock each losing.The Predictor entrants called the Oban v Strathaven game right, but there wasn't a great deal in it. 7 each at half-time, and 13-12 after 50 minutes - whilst not high scoring, this must have been intense. Oban sealed it in the 77th minute with a try to give them an 18-12 victory. They're 20 points behind Strathaven, but have two games in hand. Surely too many behind, but this weeks result (and last weeks against Cumnock), shows they have recaptured last seasons form, and will have an important part to play in the season run-in (they have still to play each of the top 3).
Our Predictor entrants had Cumnock taking a comfortable victory away at Coatbridge, but the WD boys had other thoughts, recording a 24-5 victory. This doesn't change their position in the table, but it keeps them in that mid-table battle which sees only 11 points between 4th and 8th.
Dalziel move into second place thanks to their lose bonus point. They're 13 points behind Strathaven, but have three games in hand. Cumnock are also 13 points behind, but have played the same number of games as Strathaven, so two losses in the last two weeks have probably put paid to their title challenge.
In the relegation battle, both Uddingston and Helensburgh lost - Uddy 42-14 v Paisley, and Burgh, 68-5 at Clydebank. Helensburgh are three points ahead and have two games in hand. Wins will be hard to come by between now and the end of the season, so bonus points will be very valuable. Crucially though, they have still to face each other - 15th February could be the relegation decider - it's pencilled in the diary.
This weekend, leaders Strathaven host WD. For the Predictor, we're going with Strathaven, but we know the visitors will be highly motivated and will look to avoid a defeat like they suffered earlier in the season.
Dalziel welcome Uddingston, which we can only see being a home win, whilst Cumnock welcome Clydebank. There's only 6 points between them in the league, and Clydebank have a game in hand. Cumnock beat Dalziel at the end of November, but have since lost 3 from 4. Clydebank had a big win against Helensburgh at the weekend, but lost to Wigtownshire the week before. This looks like a close one, so we're going with home advantage being the difference.
It's 5th v 4th when Paisley host Oban. There's only a point between them, but Oban have returned to form so we're going with an away win.
In the final game, Helensburgh welcome Wigtownshire to Ardencaple. Looks like a tough one for the home team, but anything from the game will be valuable - away win.
West 3
In West 3, we ended up with only two games being played. It's looking like Cowal have withdrawn for the league, so we're hoping they can regather and get back on track next season.The Lochaber v Shawlands game was off following the storms earlier in the week left a waterlogged pitch, whilst the Loch Lomond v Bishopton was off as there was no ref available.
Of the two games that were played, Moffat beat Lanark 29-20, whilst Hyndland were awarded a win against Isle of Mull who were short of players - a "development" game was played, so this will not be rescheduled.
The results don't have an impact on the Conference standings, but with Cowal withdrawing, and results being taken out, Bishopton move ahead of Mull. However things may change quite a bit this weekend.Loch Lomond are still unbeaten in the league, and they're travelling to Lanark on Saturday. Lomond are scoring plenty and not conceding many, so we expect them to make it 9 wins from 9, however the rest of the games are a little more difficult to call.
Neither Shawlands v Hyndland are scoring that many points, but Hyndland are conceding fewer on average. They also have four wins to their name compared to Shawlands one. A win for Hyndland could see them move into second in Conference 1 - we'll go with an away win.
Bishopton host Cumbernauld, which sees the two 3rd place teams in each Conference meet, whilst Birkmyre v Lochaber sees the 2nd place teams meeting up.
These will be two close contests. Birkmyre are scoring more and conceding fewer than Lochaber, and have home advantage, so we'll go with them for the Predictor.
On average, Bish are scoring slightly more points, but conceding a few more than Cumbie. Bishopton have 6 try bonus points and Cumbernauld 5, but Cumbie have 3 losing bonus points. There's not a great deal between them, but we'll go with home advantage and the fact that Bish won away at the Uni Medics in the first game after the festive break.
Photo Gallery:
Allan Glens v East KilbrideAllan Glens v East Kilbride
Cambuslang v Strathendrick
Clydebank v Helensburgh
Oban Lorne v Strathaven
Waysiders Drumpellier v Cumnock
Wigtownshire v Dalziel
Previous West Region Updates:
9th December 201925th November
17th November
No comments:
Post a Comment