2XV lost at Hamilton

2XV made the short trip to Laigh Bent on Saturday to take on league leaders Hamilton 3XV who had made an impressive start to the season racking up 97 points against Lanarkshire rivals Dalziel and 77 away at perennial powerhouses West of Scotland. A daunting task faced the men in black and yellow and this was further compounded by a cold epidemic which swept through the squad last week meaning only a brave 14 made it through to Hamilton. On a positive note there was a welcome return of some old faces to the squad, hulking 2nd row Andrew Kingswell, fans favourite Dan Trampanau and young William Harper (playing his first game since turning out in the academy) all pulled on EK colours for the first time in many years - hopefully we won't have to wait so long for there next appearances.

To the game itself, EK lost powerful centre Mark Donachie early on and with him went any real hope of keeping the game competitive against such a strong Hamilton side boasting, amongst others, former EK and Scotland youth international Stephen Turnbull - good to see Stevie back playing. EK's set piece functioned well with secure line out ball and the scrum on the front foot giving a good platform to build pressure. The boys competed well at the break down and made several surges towards the Hamilton line without crossing. Hamilton were resolute in defence and clinical in attack and exploited their numerical advantage all day long running in some fine tries from all over the pitch. EK could point the finger at weak tackling and sloppy handling contributing to their downfall but Hamilton were simply superior all over the pitch and look like they could be genuine contenders at the top of the league this season. Final Score: Hamilton 3XV 116-0 EK.

Some form of success was achieved simply by fulfilling the fixture - league rivals GHA, Carrick, Irvine and Dumfries have already forfeited games this season - so EK can take some comfort in that as they move towards next week's clash with West of Scotland at Torrance House.