Match Report: Strathendrick 92 – 0 Birkmyre

Strathendrick 92 – 0 Birkmyre
Arnold Clark West Division 2
Saturday, 18th January 2025 – KO 2pm

Birkmyre suffered a heavy defeat at the weekend going down to Strathendrick by 92 points to nil. It was the clubs 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 15m 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 sides winger who with a 3 on 1, 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 counterattack. The ball was quickly slipped wide to a support runner, who went fully 40m to score close to the posts to take the score to 14-0 after only 4 minutes.

Strathendrick then added 3 more scores in the next 15 minutes to more or less kill the game off with 2/3rds of the match still to play. They were not finished there with a further 3 tries scored before the half time whistle blew with the only blip being one missed conversion. During the last 5 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 4 scores in the first 20 minutes of the second period with the final 20 minutes proving to be more competitive. Birkmyre’s line outs & 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 90m 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 in 5th spot. The Kilmacolm side will need to brush the defeat off quickly as they face Cumbernauld this Saturday at home.

Thank you to Fiona Wallace for photographs from Saturday’s match.

Results for Saturday 18th January 2025 in Division Two: