2nds crash at Cartha in first league match

After a long summer lay off, the 2XV made the short journey to Pollock Park on Saturday to take on Cartha Queens Park 2XV in their return to league business.

If any of the boys were still high on the back of the glorious Playoff final in late March, they were swiftly brought back to Earth as the brutal nature of the step up to Reserve West League 1 was evident from the start.

In truth, the battle had begun earlier in the week. Only 3 players confirmed their availability by Wednesday so it could be taken as something of an achievement that EK fielded a side at all.

On Saturday morning, the squad had swelled to a comfortable 18, only to be hit with 3 very late call offs. With Daniel McQueen running late due to work commitments the Torrance House men kicked off with 14.

The player turnover at the club is highlighted by the fact that only two starters at Cartha played in the Playoff Finals while five shiny new policemen began their EK careers through the benefits of dual registration.

EK’s start to the game was almost as calamitous as their preparations. Their kick off went long and Cartha kicked deep into EK territory. David Bell, playing out of position at stand off, appeared to be taken late when clearing by former EK player Sam Azoala.

The EK side stopped anticipating a whistle that never came, Cartha spread the ball wide and their winger scored in the corner. Another former EK player, Calum Blackwood, slotted home the extras. 7-0 Cartha. Lesson One – Play the whistle.

EK clearly felt aggrieved, and with David Bell needing treatment to a gash in his leg after the incident, there then followed a period of indiscipline and dissent.

As a result, Cartha further extended their lead with Calum Blackwood kicking 2 penalties. 13-0 Cartha. Lesson Two – Play the Referee.

Cartha were now brimming with confidence and added 2 further tries through powerful running targeting the 9/10 channel and helped by poor tackling by EK. Both tries converted. 27-0 Cartha.

The arrival of Danny McQueen signalled a change in the game and a lengthy period of EK dominance pinning Cartha back in their half, however a mixture of stout defence and handling errors prevented the Cartha line being breached. Half time; 27-0 Cartha.

The second half started as the first had ended with EK on the front foot. It was evident that EK had the upper hand up front with set piece dominance throughout the match. A simple catch and drive gave debutant Craig Aikman his first try for the club and David Bell added the extras and a penalty as EK clawed back to 27-10.

Then the fragile nature of the EK side was exposed again. Danny McQueen was yellow carded for dissent then twisted his ankle on his return to the field to end his match. Calum Hastie, suffering a nasty head injury, and Ross Douglas, knee injury, were forced from the pitch.

With EK down to 12 players the match fell into a soul destroying pattern of EK spells of forward momentum, then Cartha turning the ball over and running the length of the pitch to score.

Six more tries were added, Calum Blackwood didn’t convert any of them (so much for his move to Cartha improving his game!!), making the final score 57-10. [Editor’s note – the SRU website says 60-10].

Despite the scoreline, there were some positive signs for EK, not least in the forward display and plenty of things to work on at training. We need numbers up before this week’s match v West of Scotland 2As at home, kick off 3pm.