A few seasons ago a match between local rivals East Kilbride (EK) and Strathaven which saw one of them in pole position in SRU Arnold Clark West Region League Division 1 and the other struggling in the relegation zone would have been about EK seeking promotion and Strathaven fighting for survival. How times have changed! On this day its was the visitors that are in the ascendancy and EK that is in the basement dog fight.

On a bright, sunny, but cold day both teams ran out on to a pitch made heavy by recent rain. EK made a very positive start and with the help of penalties awarded for Strathaven's offences nudged themselves into a 6-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes with both penalty conversions coming from the boot of Grant Dryburgh. Grant added to his tally as half time approached by converting Evan Middleton's try claimed after a succession of attacking moves on the Strathaven line. With half time approaching the visitors opened their account with a converted try, but not to be outdone, EK stormed back with Alistair MacKinnon crossing for the final, unconverted, try of the half.

As the first half finished brightly for EK the opening minute of the second added to their brightness with a Ross McKeown try converted by Grant Dryburgh adding to the home side's score. An immediate response from Strathaven brought the score to EK 25 Strathaven 14, but it was what followed that really dampened the spirits of the Torrance Arena faithful. In a ten minute period Strathaven scored three tries, two of which were converted. The first two of these came in very similar fashion which can be described as follows - with EK backs attacking the Strathaven line a long, looping pass intended to put the EK winger in the clear was intercepted leaving the unintended recipient of the pass in the clear - and so it was that the visitors moved into the lead. These two tries were followed by a third as strong running by a Strathaven forward who burst through EK tacklers saw them eat up a lot of ground before touching down to consolidate their lead. As the half ran down Strathaven extended their lead by converting two penalties and though EK launched a promising attack on the Strathaven line in a last ditch attempt to score the converted try that would have provided a couple of bonus points, the score never came. Strathaven travelled back down the A726 with 5 league points to add to their tally and hold on to the top spot while EK were left disappointed.

In the final analysis the loss of two tries to interceptions was, in terms of the final score, the difference between the two sides. For EK this was a game that was there for the winning, but Strathaven's determined second half performance coupled with too many errors on the part of EK made the difference between the two sides. This was another performance that demonstrated that EK have the ability to beat higher placed teams in this division, they just need to cut out the mistakes, play to their strengths and, most importantly, hold on to the ball. For EK there were a number of fine individual performances with Juan Lee Hodgkinson doing sterling work at the base of the scrum and Mark Ellison putting in a thoughtful performance at scrum half and, as the game neared its end, at stand off. It was good to see Justin Ludick back in an EK shirt and, in similar vein, Lucas Aitken putting in a performance at stand off. EK's player of the match - dominant in attack and defence, bandaged and bloodied - by popular accord Alistair MacKinnon is this week's EK player of the match.

Next weekend will be dominated by the visit of Club Olympique Chalonnais and, as a wee aside, Scotland's game against France on Saturday afternoon. EK's next match in this division will be on March 21st when they travel to Greenock for what will be a crucial fixture as both teams are currently in the lower reaches of the division. That will be followed by two home games on April 4th when Lenzie will be the visitors and April 11th when Carrick will provide opposition. These final two games will give EK an opportunities to demonstrate what hey are capable off, so let's make the most of them.