Before getting into the league update, a quick review of the 3rd round matches in the National Shield.
We have four West Clubs progressing to the Quarter Final stages of the Shield, with wins for East Kilbride, Oban Lorne, Dalziel and Stewartry. Cambuslang lost away at Linlithgow, whilst the Kilmarnock game v Forrester was off due to a waterlogged pitch. This game is rescheduled for 17th December.
West 1
A home win for Garnock moves them clear at the top of West 1, but it was a tight run thing. Cumnock had taken the spoils when the pair met in first game of the season and were in the lead up to 65 minutes, but a try and penalty kick in the closing 15 minutes was enough to secure the win for the home side.
The only other two West 1 games involved the four Clubs at the bottom of the table.
Lenzie had a tight 17-7 win away at Ardrossan, whilst Annan had a more comfortable 34-7 result against Carrick. The results give Lenzie and Annan a fair degree of breathing space over the bottom two.
| West 1 | |||||||||
| Played | W | L | D | Diff | TB | LB | Ded | Points | |
| Garnock | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 174 | 6 | 0 | 38 | |
| Stewartry | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 199 | 6 | 0 | 34 | |
| Kilmarnock | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 115 | 5 | 1 | 30 | |
| Cumnock | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 122 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
| Cambuslang | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | -49 | 5 | 1 | 22 | |
| East Kilbride | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 4 | 1 | 21 | |
| Lenzie | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | -53 | 1 | 1 | 18 | |
| Annan | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | -87 | 4 | 1 | 17 | |
| Ardrossan Academicals | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | -170 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 1 |
| Carrick | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | -279 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
In a strange twist of fixture re-arrangements, these two games are reversed this weekend, with the two bottom Clubs now desperately looking to pickup points, with every point crucial in the battle to avoid the drop to West 2.
In the top half of the table, leaders Garnock are away at East Kilbride, Stewartry are away at Cambuslang and Cumnock host 3rd placed Kilmarnock.
There's a bit of extra spice in the West 1 promotion race this season, as whilst there's the usual one guaranteed spot, the team finishing second goes into a play-off for an additional promotion spot in the new National 4 league.
Garnock lead the way with Stewartry four points behind, but they have a game in hand. Kilmarnock are 8 behind Garnock (also with a game in hand), so currently four points off second, whilst Cumnock are six points off second place.
| Cambuslang | v | Stewartry | ||
| Carrick | v | Annan | ||
| Cumnock | v | Kilmarnock | ||
| East Kilbride | v | Garnock | ||
| Lenzie | v | Ardrossan Accies |
West 2
Not quite a full card in West 2 as the top two (Oban Lorne & Dalziel) were on National Shield business. This gave third & fourth placed Clubs the opportunity to close the gap and they took it with both hands.
Third-placed Strathaven won 55 - 10 against 5th placed Club Uddingston, whilst Wigtownshire won 58-7 against Clydebank.
This moves Strathaven into top spot, two points ahead of both Oban Lorne and Dalziel, though they have played more games. Wigtownshire remain in fourth place, five behind Strathaven, but with a game in hand, and three behind Oban Lorne and Dalziel.
As usual, the league winners will be promoted to West 1, and we're assuming that if two Clubs are promoted from West 1 to National 4, then there will be a second promotion place in West 2.
The battle at the foot of the table is just as close as it is at the top. Clydebank are part of that battle, and with them facing Wigtownshire at the weekend, it was a chance for the other relegation contenders to make some ground on Clydebank.
9th placed Paisley welcomed Glasgow Uni Medics who now look to be clear of the relegation fight with four wins from eight games.
Paisley have won only one from seven and this was reflected in the Predictor Index where over 70% of entrants went with the visitors. However, a 24-19 win for the hosts not only gives the majority of Predictor entrants a zero in the stats, but more importantly gives Paisley four points and a bit more confidence with two wins on the trot.
The final West 2 game saw 8th placed Strathendrick away at bottom Club Irvine where a win for Irvine would probably have been enough to move them off the foot of the table.
At 26-22, it was a close contest, but it was the visitors who took full points, whilst Irvine need to be content themselves with a try and a lose bonus point.
The weekends results mean that both Strathendrick and Paisley move ahead of Clydebank, but with only 7 points between 7th and 10th, there's not much to choose between the four.
| West 2 | |||||||||
| Played | W | L | D | Diff | TB | LB | Ded | Points | |
| Strathaven | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 348 | 6 | 2 | 36 | |
| Oban Lorne | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 233 | 6 | 0 | 34 | |
| Dalziel | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 145 | 6 | 0 | 34 | |
| Wigtownshire | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 287 | 6 | 1 | 31 | |
| Uddingston | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 25 | |
| Glasgow University Medics | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | -118 | 4 | 1 | 21 | |
| Strathendrick | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | -163 | 2 | 2 | 12 | |
| Paisley | 9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | -247 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| Clydebank | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | -178 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |
| Irvine | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | -315 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 5 |
This weekend Dalziel and Strathaven host relegation contenders, whilst Oban Lorne are away at Uni Medics. Wigtownshire have a more challenging contest when they travel to Uddy. Shire will be favourites, but this could be a banana skin.
In our remaining game, it's Strathendrick v Paisley, so 7th v 8th - it will be interesting to see how the Predictor entrants call this one, but we're guessing it will be split somewhere down the middle.
| Dalziel | v | Irvine | ||
| Glasgow Uni Medics | v | Oban Lorne | ||
| Strathaven | v | Clydebank | ||
| Strathendrick | v | Paisley | ||
| Uddingston | v | Wigtownshire |
West 3
Well, if you think it's close at the top of West 1 & West 2, wait till you have a look at West 3.
Before Saturday, we had eight Clubs within 8 points of the leaders, and now we have eight Clubs within 7 points of the leaders.
Perhaps the most important result in the promotion battle was Cumbernaulds win over league leaders Bishopton. At 19 nil there's no bonus points for either Club, so the gap between the two closes to just 3 points.
Bikmyre move top of the table following a 17-10 win against Shawlands, so no bonus point for Birkmyre but a lose bonus for Shawlands. This moves Shawlands to within two points of second place which is currently shared with Bishopton, Lomond/ Helensburgh and Hyndland.
A 53-24 win for Mull over Moffat moves them ahead of Waysiders/ Drumpellier and puts them seven points behind leaders Birkmyre, whilst having a game in hand.
We're not sure how this campaign is to be resolved with suggestions of a split for second half of the season, but with the current backlog we're wondering how feasible that will be without extending the competitive games well into May. With a game already scheduled for 25th February it's going to be tight for all Clubs to get all games played.
| West 3 | |||||||||
| Played | W | L | D | Diff | TB | LB | Ded | Points | |
| Birkmyre | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 107 | 3 | 0 | -3 | 20 |
| Bishopton | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 82 | 2 | 0 | 18 | |
| Lomond & Helensburgh | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 77 | 2 | 0 | 18 | |
| Hyndland | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 2 | 18 | |
| Shawlands | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | -3 | 16 |
| Cumbernauld | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 89 | 2 | 1 | 15 | |
| Lochaber | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 83 | 4 | 1 | 14 | |
| Isle of Mull | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 72 | 4 | 0 | -3 | 13 |
| Waysiders/Drumpellier | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | -40 | 3 | 1 | 10 | |
| Moffat | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | -210 | 2 | 1 | -3 | 0 |
| Lanark & Clydesdale | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | -265 | 0 | 1 | -3 | -2 |
With so many Clubs in contention at the top of the table, an interesting set of fixtures are to be expected for this weekend. Leaders Birkmyre are away to second placed Hyndland. Bishopton host Mull, who are five points behind them. Lomond/ Helensburgh host Waysiders/ Drumpellier who are 8 points behind them, whilst 6th placed Cumbernauld host 5th placed Shawlands, with only one point between them.
The final game of the weekend sees 10th placed Moffat host 11th placed Lanarkdale and in this one, there's only two points between them.
Depending how these results go, we could see loads of changes in league positions, which includes one of four Clubs who could end the weekend top of the table.
| Bishopton | v | Isle of Mull | ||
| Cumbernauld | v | Shawlands | ||
| Hyndland | v | Birkmyre | ||
| Lomond/ Helensburgh | v | Waysiders/ Drumpellier | ||
| Moffat | v | Lanarkdale |
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Hi paul, with regard the West 2 promotion, I'm waiting upon confirmation from SRU, but there's no relegation from National 3 to the Regionals. This means that we could be looking at 2 promoted from West 1 to National 4 and 1 relegated to West 2, meaning 3 promotion spots (so I'd reckon 2 guaranteed promotion spots from West 2 as it is).
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