BIRKMYRE suffered a heavy defeat going down to Strathendrick by 92 points to nil.
It was the club’s heaviest defeat in recent memory and one they will be looking to put behind them quickly.
Trouble started right from the off. A poor kick-off was collected by one of Strathendrick’s forwards. He broke two tackles and powered 15 metres down the pitch. A box kick then saw Birkmyre gather the ball deep in their own 22. A poor clearance kick however, sent the ball into the arms of the home side’s winger who, with a three-on-one, slipped a pass outside for a converted score near the corner.
The lead was quickly doubled. Birkmyre were attacking on the halfway line shortly after the restart. However, the home side were able to rip the ball and counter-attack. The ball was quickly slipped wide to a support runner, who went fully 40 metres to score close to the posts to take the score to 14-0 after only four minutes.
Strathendrick added three more scores in the next 15 minutes to more or less kill off the game. They were not finished there with a further three tries before half-time, with the only blip being one missed conversion.
During the last five minutes of the half, Birkmyre enjoyed some sustained pressure on the home side’s try line but were unable to convert.
The second half showed few signs of improvement. More missed tackles and some poor tactical kicks added to Birkmyre’s woes and Strathendrick ran in a further four scores in the first 20 minutes of the second period with the final 20 minutes proving to be more competitive. Birkmyre’s line-outs and scrums were operating fairly effectively, however too many errors in open play were costing them.
On the 66th minute Birkmyre found themselves in the ascendancy with a further period of pressure on the opposition try line having won a succession of penalties close in. After probing again and again, the backs went wide however an ambitious pass was intercepted and the home side went fully 90 metres to score unopposed. They then rounded off their scoring on the 75th minute with their final converted try.
The victory sees Strathendrick leap to the top spot in the table with Birkmyre remaining fifth. The Kilmacolm side will need to brush the defeat off quickly as they face Cumbernauld this Saturday at home.
