On a rather cold and slippery underfoot day, EKRFC hosted its annual seven a side competition. In a two pool event, teams battled to get in to the Cup and Bowl finals.

As is traditional, a number of late call offs saw some rejigging of the draw. All teams competed fiercely throughout, with EK fielding four sides, two of which got through to the Cup Final.

There was an array of traditional sevens skills – speed, guile, brute force, agility and good handling and even some moments of good refereeing.

Pool A comprised EK 1s, Uddingston, Paisley, The Crown (Dundee) and EK Old Boys. Sadly The Crown withdraw after one of their players dislocated a shoulder and they all decided to keep him company in the hospital casualty waiting room.

EK1s v EK Old Boys produced some big hits, and even some off the ball shenanigans (you should be ashamed, Fraser Little). EK1s emerged undefeated pool winners, without always playing classical sevens. Uddingston were second and had the joy of an extra match in the Bowl Final.

Pool B comprised Cambuslang, Arran, Auldhouse Polar Bears and the EK Barbarians. Strathclyde Police got lost en route – should have asked a policeman.

The Polar Bears were the big hitters and heaviest team in the competition. Despite that, they regularly demonstrated silky passing, albeit not perhaps at traditional sevens speed. They won all their matches. Cambuslang’s second place qualified them for the bowl final.

In the Bowl Final, Uddingston initially seemed to be coasting to victory but lost their way at half time and ultimately lost the match to a rejuvenated Cambus team.

The Cup Final was a rather scrappy affair, with local knowledge of each other turning the match in to a bit of a scrap. But class told in the end and EK1s ran out deserved winners. Much deserved after their success in the Bowl Final at Hamilton last week.

All teams did well in difficult conditions, particularly on Pitch 2, and deserve praise for their stamina on a cold day. And the referees did a tremendous job, despite the encouragement and support (?) of the crowd. Well done Thunders, Scott Aitken, Ally Dal and any other ref I have missed.

Thanks too to Scott Johnston and his team for organising the event. And to Steven Keir for presenting the trophies at the end. Despite the cruel comments about his playing style increasingly reminding the crowd of the svelte sevens skills of father Tom Keir, he stayed around after playing at least 10 minutes at "full blast" for the Old Boys to present the “Jessie Keir Memorial Cup” to captain Craig Ferguson (Senior).