Hillhead Jordanhill 2nd XV 22 points Whitecraigs 2nd XV 0
This was a very entertaining Friday night game played at a fast pace on a lush surface. Whitecraigs were all youthful energy and enthusiasm, always wanting to run the ball from everywhere on the field ; whereas their older, more physical and mature opponents soaked up a lot of early pressure and relied on spectacular individual line breaks to rattle their opponents. Whitecraigs will rue the fact that they should have kicked some of their early penalty opportunities rather than constantly go for the corner.
Hills first score came from an excellent 40 metre break by scrum half Cameron Cobb, who offloaded skillfully to the supporting AJ McFarlane to score in the corner. “AJ”, despite having now a much lower centre of gravity than previously, unpacked many of his footballing skills and rugby nous in his brief 30 minute cameo appearance at Hughenden to keep his side in the game. The second score of the first half came from a powerful break from centre, Billy Mullin, who ran a fine diagonal line to offload to left winger, Nick Coombs, who ran in unopposed. The half time score of 10-0 to the Hills flattered them given the pressure the visitors had exerted in the first quarter of the game.
The second half saw the “Hills hitting up the slope and they began to pressurize Whitecraigs up front, both in first and second phase situations. Veteran prop, Blair Mackenzie was prominent with several barnstorming runs up the middle of the park, but it was his fellow front rower, captain Harry Singh, who crossed close to the posts to add to the Hills scoreline. Fionn Whyte converted and then some 10 minutes later he put the game out of the visitors reach by taking off on a solo, mazy 40 metre run to score in the corner.
Even at 22 points down , Whitecraigs kept on trying but could not penetrate the home defence , even when Hills were reduced by two yellow cards. The final quarter was for Hills particularly undistinguished. They showed poor field discipline at the breakdown and were constantly challenging some of the match official’s decisions. This, at times petulant behaviour, detracted from the quality of the overall spectacle on an ideal night for running rugby at Hughenden.
