Birkmyre suffered a narrow one score defeat to Cumbernauld on Saturday in their Bowl Semi-final. It was a competitive match on a very wet and soggy pitch and the bears showed a lot of spirit and heart fighting to try and claw back the deficit right up to the 80th minute.

It was however a day where a number of unforced errors, mainly knock ons, proved costly and the initial kick off was a case in point. Birkmyre dropped the ball from the kick off and following a few phases of play, the home side ran in the opening try with less than 5 mins on the clock. The resultant conversion from the touch line made the score 7-0.

Possession then ebbed and flowed but there was little fluency from either side due to the slippery conditions. Cumbernauld were however guilty if a number of penalties and on 18 minutes, they were reduced to 14 men. David Cruickshank slotted the resultant penalty over to make it 7-3.

For most of the half, although competing well in open play, Birkmyre struggled at scrums and line outs making it difficult to build a platform to play from. Shortly before the half, the boys conceded back to back penalties, the second of which saw Gordon Stein see yellow. Fortunately, Cumbernauld kicked both wide of the posts meaning no change to the score at the half.

In the second half, the line out continued to struggle but the scrum improved to provide a more solid base at times during the half. On about the 55th minute, the bears went through a few phases and found themselves attacking on the edge of the opposition 22. Ross Moglia’s attempted chip through was however blocked and Cumbernauld recovered the ball and they managed to run the length of the pitch to score a converted try to extend their lead to 14-3.

Some personnel positional changes in the backs improved the bears attacking threat shortly thereafter. The boys continued to fight hard and did not give up and on around 60 mins, through a few phases of play, saw Ross McDonnell dive in at the corner for 5 points. The resultant conversion from the touch line was on target, but just short.

From then, Birkmyre struggled to get into their opponents 22. They knew a converted try would be enough however scrums and lines outs continued to be an issue although a change of tactics to “tap and go” did help. Too many knock ons also did not help as well as penalties conceded. The game finished with a penalty against which Cumbernauld were able to tap and kick into touch.

The boys can and should be proud of their efforts. Tackling was fantastic in the main. There was no shortage of ambition, and no one gave up or didn’t give 100%. However, too many errors and a lack of a platform from set pieces to build on, ultimately cost them a place in the final.