On Saturday the Rams welcomed Wigtownshire RFC to a wet and muddy holm park. Previous encounters between the two teams have always been a tussle and a all new look Shire with new kit and new faces the game kicked off with the Rams kicking down hill.
In Shire fashion the ball worked its way through the Forwards and after good carrys made found themselves in the Rams 22. Some stout Rams defence across the park took its punishment and the Shire muscled their way over in the corner for a unconverted try and soon to add a penalty for not releasing in the tackle 0v8.
Rams found themselves on the back foot for the opening period with very little ball to work with and shire showing their intentions to push out of West 3 with a good mix of play between backs and forwards left the Rams falling off just too many tackles and they soon added another two unconverted trys 0 v 18.
With that the Rams finally won a penalty just inside their half and released some pressure through kicking down into the Shire 22. As previous weeks the Rams played better in open play with ball in hand and found themselves making good ground with some good forwards structure play and offloads but again failed to convert the pressure.
Shire soon rumbled their way back up with some good continuity but missed tackles allowed them to gain easy ground only for some last ditch defensive efforts from Leon Kirk but the Shire recycled quick ball to catch out the Rams defence to score a converte try. Ht 0v25.
Second half got underway and the Rams looked the better with some good carrys from Cochrane and Drennan setting the tempo and like sheep the Rams followed and some good pressure resulting in Shire having a turn at defending but again lots of pressure and no rewards. Shire pressure managed to force the Rams back down into their half and sneak a try through a charge down with some questions being asked as about a hint of offside. Converted 0v32.
Penaltys became the tale for the next period with Coach Cammy forgetting you couldn't put boot to ball at ruck anymore and gained a yellow for his troubles , eventually Shire soon followed suit for repeat infringements. Time passed and the Rams finally found the platform needed returning to 15 players and good pressure resulted in a penalty 5m short of the line.
Forwards set the move and Drennan crashed short but good quick ball for Cochrane he picked and outstretched one arm for a unconverted try. And like history it soon repeated itself this time yellow for Andrew Wallace for taking the law into his own hands.
This prompted a response and several phases later Rams gained a penalty for their defensive efforts and quick thinking from Galloway he gained an extra 10m. Forwards set the move and this time Cochrane took the charge and metres from the line offloaded out the tackle to Mark Walker Jones who simply just had to dot it down again the conversion was missed.
10v32. With Full time approaching Rams tried to keep the ball and intensity up but again some good defensive efforts from shire resulted in a penalty to finish the game 10v35.
Coach and Captain praised the team for their effort in the second half but stressed they cant afford to allow teams a head start just like previous games. Next Game is Away to Police Scotland on Saturday at Lochinch ko3pm Squad S Galloway, J Little, L Durston, C Currie, N Duncanson, MWJones, S Cochrane, A Chadwick, C Little, D Scott, S Jackson, G Smith, L Kirk, R Herdsman, L Fisher, A Wallace, C Scott, S Borthwick, R Drennan, G Cameron, J Burgess
