EK come from behind to qualify for final

Having defeated Hawks in the last round, having beaten us on our last 3 visits to them and looking for revenge after we defeated them a few months ago - we all knew this would be a tough challenge against old foes, Allan Glens.

Despite knowing this, the boys started slowly - dropping the first kick off was a sign of things to come in the first 20 mins . Too many errors and not matching Glens' aggression at the breakdown meant the boys were under pressure . They did well to keep Glens out.

Unfortunately when the boys finally got up the other end, a quick turnover saw Glens race the length of the field for a well worked try. (sad, I know, but I've already checked the video replay and their player was in front of the kicker - no try !!).

Things went from bad to worse as Sam Connery was then yellow carded - a team penalty for persistent fouls! With no sub scrum half, Ethan Aitken had to step into no.9. Bizarrely the team played better with 14 men and put Glens under pressure. This led to a penalty on halfway - with a slight helping breeze Ethan took on the kick and put EK on the board 7-3. More pressure led to another penalty and another successful kick from Ethan. Half time 7-6.

A chance to regroup at HT gave the boys the opportunity to get a few things off their chest and express a desire to win the game, whatever it takes. The half did not start well though, with talisman Simon Mukulamani forced off through injury, which didn't help an already stretched squad. Despite having more territory EK were struggling to turn pressure into points .

A Glens winger was yellow carded for a high tackle on Callum Field as he raced to the corner - no try. Things would get even worse halfway through the second half - Glens kicked ahead and 2 lucky bounces saw them score again - the conversion hit the post, so now 12-6 with only 15 mins left.

A massive turning point came from the kick off with Callum Field catching the ball only to be pole-axed with an appalling head high challenge from their biggest boy - rightly red carded!

This meant another reshuffle with Callum leaving the field. His replacement Gordon Richardson was almost instantly in the score sheet but the last pass from Kieran Noble went to ground. It just looked like it was not to be our day. The boys, however, had different ideas.

Following a kick to the corner, a great throw under pressure from Josh Morris saw a great driving maul created and big Angus Watt crashed over. The conversion slipped wide so Glens still led 12-11 with time running out.

Clever kicking and a territorial game kept pressure on the opposition - it told eventually when the youngest boy in our team, Harry Taggart, barged over to spark wild celebrations!! Time for Glens to pick up another yellow for abusing the referee to add to their earlier yellow and red!!

The boys made it hard for themselves, but dug deep to get the victory in a game they didn't play that well in.

Final on Saturday 25th March- more details to follow (possibly at home!!).

Well done boys, a big thanks to all the parents, relatives and senior club members for their support - it was very much appreciated !!

Aniello Sciallo
Josh Morris
Angus Watt
James Westland
Ben Mclean
Simon Mukla
Kieran Noble
Sam Park
Garry Speedie
Sam Connery
Ethan Aitken
Kyle Dixon
Sam Hume
Harry Taggart
Grant Dryburgh
Scott Donald
Callum Field
Callum Connelly-Tennock
Gordon Richardson
Darren Joseph Gillespie
Connor Wilson