The script was almost direct from a Holywood studio. Promotion secured last week to National League 3 with a tight victory at Kilmarnock producing the chance of winning the RBS Regional West 1 Division Championship if we could secure a win with a four try bonus point against….. err, yes, Kilmarnock again.

What did we need to prepare for the big event? A beautiful sunny day, a 2nd XV warm up match including some of our graduating Under 18s returning from “exile” in Cambuslang, great hype and anticipation throughout the week on our Facebook page, Vice President Peter Hagerty working day and night in his new flag manufacturing company (hint – stick to the day job, Peter), a guard of honour from the Mini Rugby section (P5s I think) to welcome the 1st XV on to the pitch, and a large vociferous home crowd.

It was also great to see some past members of EKRFC who were drawn back to the club to lend their support on the big day – thanks (and do come again) Jim Keenan, Stuart Marshall, Jack Blackwood, Craig Steven!! (lol) and many others – and to join in the post-match celebrations.

It is some 15 years since we last secured a promotion. The SRU had the league trophy strategically positioned to despatch it to the appropriate location, albeit not by helicopter.

It all looked good after 4 minutes. Early EK pressure saw Scott Shankie (truth is he told me he prefers to now be called Swankie) kick a penalty for a 3-0 lead. But Kilmarnock responded quickly to level it at 3-3 after seven minutes.

Then a blistering run by the visitors prop for some 30 metres, including fending off Captain Gareth Jones, through various EK defenders, culminated in him dropping the ball over the line. Cue huge sighs of EK relief. Further relief came when the referee overruled his touch judges to deem a Kilmarnock penalty kick had not gone through the posts. Living dangerously or what?

The first half was pretty much a repeat of last week’s half – Kilmarnock on top, dominating possession and looking more cohesive while EK were unable or unwilling to let their backs loose. A major difficulty was also poor EK discipline, with a succession of rash penalties.

EK spurned a penalty in front of the posts to try for a five pointer via a line out drive but messed up the lineout. And so the ref blew for half time with score at 3-3, leaving the big EK support wondering where one try was going to come from, let alone four tries. Coach Steel subbed John Watson with Gary Viljeon, to try to generate more power in the forwards.

However, Kilmarnock responded first with a penalty in 42 minutes, score 3-6. This spurred EK on and they finally put the ball out the backs. An Ian Brown blast, with support from Andy MacDonald and Fraser Little saw the ball recycled to allow Scott Shankie to zip through a gap to score under the posts. Calum Blackwood’s conversion made it 10-6.

And they followed it up with another penalty, for offside from a quickly taken tap penalty, to stretch the lead to 13-6. This was followed by an amazing 48 metre run by Shankie – when the sensible thing to do would have been to kick for position from within his 22 metre area – weaving his way past, over and through a clutch of defenders.

Brown had another storming run, again supported by Duk MacDonald – the momentum seemed to have swung EK’s way. But a series of mistakes and silly penalties allowed Kilmarnock back in to the match.

Kilmarnock missed a penalty after 65 minutes, but EK then lost Viljeon to a harsh yellow card decision for a high but not reckless or dangerous tackle. A rare moment in a hitherto clean but hard match.

The penalty count was soaring against EK (it was 10-1 against in the second half) but the visitors could not convert any of their chances – they missed two relatively straightforward kicks. EK were defending for their lives – even Scott Shankie knocked the ball on and only desperate and scrambling defence kept the EK line intact, plus a vital Kilmarnock knock on.

John Watson came back on after 76 minutes to restore EK to their full complement only for flanker Chris (Tophie) O’Neill to give away a silly penalty and earn a yellow card. This saw further waves of Kilmarnock pressure and only a Kilmarnock knock on when crossing the EK line prevented the visitors from snatching the match. Tense does not really describe it.

Kilmarnock had all the pressure and EK were just hanging on, helped by a magnificent tackle by Skipper Jones out in the backs. So tense was it, our president thought tiny Ross Stewart had put in the hit!

Cue much relief when referee Eddie Rae blew for full time. EK had scraped over the victory line against a Kilmarnock side that must have gone home wondering how they had failed to claim a victory. Three missed penalties and two knock ons in the act of trying to score pretty much says it all.

It was an intensely physical match, Kilmarnock played very well, much better than last week, so in the end EK had to be satisfied with a very hard earned victory. There was no real disappointment when the news filtered through that rivals Irvine had gained a bonus point victory at Helensburgh, thus clinching the league title on points differential.

EK have no complaints about the outcome. We have had an injury ravaged season, losing a raft of key players with season ending injuries, and have achi9eved great things with a small, dedicated group of players.

Irvine beat EK three times (twice in the league and once in the Shield) so we offer them our congratulations on a well deserved championship.

We are delighted to have secured promotion. Congratulations to Coach Allan Steel and all his support staff on a great season. It was a great party in the club afterwards. Let’s try and replicate this for all our home matches next year.

Many, many thanks to everyone who turned up to support the team yesterday. It was great to see so many people from the Mini section, particularly the ball boys and the guard of honour. And a special thanks to Vice President Peter Hagerty for organising much of it – we need more of it next year so no flagging!!

Our thanks also go to all our sponsors for their much needed support throughout the year. We will need more of it, now that we get to travel up and down the country for matches again. But please don't let Peters Ferrie or Hagerty tell the driver which way to go!!

Man of the Match: tricky on a day when EK were not the dominant team, despite the victory. Gareth Jones was an inspirational leader, as ever; Ian Brown had some dynamic breaks; everyone tackled like demons, but my man of the match goes to fulsome Scott Swankie for his all round game and excellent breaks (but please kick it a bit more often – yes, I know you were carrying an injury yesterday), even though he had many the hearts of much of the EK support in their mouths at times.

Let's all look forward to next year.

Team: 15 Fraser Little [sponsored by Scobie Junior]; 14 Andy MacDonald [sponsored by Warnock Plant]; 13 Ian Brown [sponsored by Gas Services Direct]; 12 Scott Shankie [sponsored by DIY Garage]; 11 Ross Stewart; 10; 9 Calum Blackwood [sponsored by Tintos Bar]; 8 Gareth Jones, Captain [sponsored by Espresso Addesso]; 7 Chris O’Neill [sponsored by Lime Delicatessen]; 6 Graeme Blackwood [sponsored by ICA Architects Ltd]; 5 John Watson [sponsored by Age Concern]; 4 Ally Dalgleish [sponsored by sponsored by Alpha Better Cleaning Ltd]; 3 Chris Mclellan [sponsored by Herbalife Nutrition Glasgow]; 2 Rian Anderson [sponsored by Rian Anderson Lineout Tuition Ltd]; 1 Scott Aitken [sponsored by DIY Garage]. Replacements: Alex Irvine [sponsored by Glow at 10]; Gary Viljoen; Chris Mullins [sponsored by Gas Services Direct]; Chris Quinn [sponsored by Happy Days Too].