Lanark Rugby Club would be well pleased with the outcome of their visit to Shawlands on Saturday winning 22 – 12 and picking up a four try bonus point in the process. But it was hard earned with the end result in doubt in latter stages when Shawlands finished strongly.
Again travelling with a shortage of reserves Lanark suffered an early set back when their powerhouse prop Drew Jardine had to retire with ligament problems. The sides were evenly matched in the opening quarter with Lanark’s forwards winning good ball and driving well but the breaks came in the open with stand-off Andrew Angus finding the gaps. He crossed for the first try and was quickly followed by Declan Moore and Cameron Bridgeman who impressed making his debut with the club at centre. An Angus conversion made the halftime score 17 – 0.
On the restart, with Lanark down to fourteen with the sin binning of prop Frankie Swords for a no arm shoulder tackle causing scrums to be uncontested, Shawlands were back in the game with two quick scores one of which was converted. From then on Lanark were on the back foot and only with some determined cover defensive tackling were able to stem the tide. With Lanark’s forwards visibly tiring relief came when scrum half Euan Scott crossed to get the bonus try at the end of the third quarter. The final stages were bravely fought out to retain the lead.
The Team took time at the end to pose for the picture attached as they dedicated the win to the newest member of the club young Noah Hughes who was born less than 24hrs earlier and the son of Club President Iain. A nice gesture by a great bunch of guys.
Lanark play Hyndland away this Saturday. Kick-off is at 2pm.
Ken Scott
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