Birkmyre 36 – 15 Irvine
Arnold Clark West Division 2
Saturday 1st March 2025 – KO 2pm
Birkmyre all but secured 5th spot in the league on Saturday with a good home win against rivals Irvine by 36 points to 15. The match was closer than the scoreline suggests with the Kilmacolm side scoring a couple of late tries to stave off the visitors come back.
Birkmyre controlled the early passages of play. With the wind behind them, some good tactical kicking meant the match was being played well into opposition territory. That field position nearly paid off in the 3rd minute however winger, Jamie Haran, was held up over the line before he could get the ball down. From the resulting goal line drop out, Robbie Espie caught the ball 35m out. He made a pass to stand off, David Cruickshank, who then slotted over a drop goal to open the scoring.
The lead was fairly short lived as Irvine scored a try in the 10th minute. Having won a line out on the 22, they went through a number of phases with their pack to eventually get over the line. The conversion was missed. Shortly after the kick off, Irvine were reduced to 14 players with a yellow card for a high tackle on Haran.
Birkmyre more or less took immediate advantage of the extra man as 3 minutes later they won another penalty of the edge of the Irvine 22. They elected for the kick at goal which Cruickshank slotted over comfortably to take back the lead.
Not long after Irvine returned to full strength, Birkmyre struck again. Taking a quick tap and go penalty on the halfway line, Espie popped a pass to Quinn Murphy. He then went the full 50m breaking a couple of tackles and out pacing the defenders to score towards the corner flag.
On the 28th minute, Birkmyre then saw yellow. Cruickshank was adjudged to have deliberately knocked the ball on trying to intercept a pass and was sent for a seat on the side for 10 minutes. Whilst he was off, they managed to extend their lead when Struan McCamley dived in at the right corner flag. The score came from a line out on the halfway line on the opposite side of the pitch. Going through a number of phases, they pressed down the left of the pitch before going wide right and McCamley did the rest from 15m out with little space to play with.
Cruickshank was just back on the pitch when Irvine saw yellow again for a similar offence of a deliberate knock on, however there was no more scoring before the half time whistle.
It took 15 minutes into the second half before Birkmyre extended their lead to 21-5. Birkmyre won a series of penalties 5m out from the post and were using the forwards to drive at the line. This time a change of tactics worked as they went out wide via the backs for Michael McGeoch to brake a double tackle and then touch down.
Irvine then came back into the match scoring twice in 10 minutes cutting the Birkmyre lead to only 6 points, and it looked at though the match could go either way. However, Birkmyre won a penalty on the 75th minute, and as it was in front of the posts, they elected to kick and Cruickshank slotted over again.
Birkmyre then finished with a flurry in no small part due to Paul Carruth. He provided an assist for the 4th try by running nearly 60m before Adam Hannah finished it off. For the final score, Paul picked up a loose ball 25m out and sprinted over the line for the final try.
Scorers:- Tries: Q Murphy, S McCamley, M McGeoch, A Hannah, P Carruth; Conversion; D Cruickshank; Penalties: D Cruickshank (2); Drop Goal: D Cruickshank
Thank you to Fiona Wallace for photographs from today’s match
Results for Saturday 5th April 2025 in Division Two:
- Birkmyre 36 – 15 Irvine
- Clydebank 27 – 71 Wigtownshire
- Cumbernauld 15 – 48 Strathendrick
- Uddingston 64 – 17 Loch Lomond / Helensburgh
- Waysiders/Drumpellier 10 – 50 Carrick
Division Two league table:
*Up to date as at 09/04/25
Fixtures in Division Two: (all 2pm start times on Saturday 12th April 2025):
- Loch Lomond / Helensburgh vs Cumbernauld
- Strathendrick vs Cattick
- Waysiders/Drumpellier vs Clydebank
