The primary 6 and 7 teams combined this Sunday to form two teams, A & B. Team A were allocated to Mr Gibson and co. with team B given over to the P6 coaches. Team B were; P6 - Aaron, Andrew F, Beth, Cameron, Euan, Finn and Oliver and P7 - Calum, Finlay and Nathan.
Team B were to play two matches against McLaren and Lathallan. Given the rather challenging weather and conditions under foot, the handling skills on display from all teams was exceptional with few scrums given for handling errors.

First up were McLaren and in an evenly contested and competitive first half, both teams enjoyed dominate phases of play that had the score line level at two tries apiece at halftime. Entering the second half Endrick began to dominate with strong tackling in particular from Finn, Andrew, Euan and Nathan nullifying the visitors attacks. Enjoying more time on the ball and with excellent support play from Aaron through his offloading and Beth and Oliver linking the phases of play, Calum and Finlay unleashed their jinking runs that had McLaren on the back foot resulting in two quick, consecutive tries that offered no way back for their opponents. The final play of the game had a McLaren clearing kick returned with interest with the game finishing 5-2 to Strathendrick.

Next were Lathallan, a physically strong team who employed a direct approach with good support, rucking skills and firm tackling. Two early tries from the visitors had Endrick facing an uphill struggle as they attempted to contain Lathallan’s attacks. However, the kids switched on to the simple idea that offence is often the best form of defence and responded with fluent phases of play that had them making ground and crossing the whitewash to reduce the deficit to one. With half time approaching Endrick lost Finn to injury, with Lathallan in procession the game was restarted with a scrum which Endrick won against the head, the resultant ball was quickly fed out wide to Cameron who sprinted in his trade mark style over the line to level the scores. The second half was played at high intensity with both teams unwillingly to yield in the ruck or tackle with many explosive breaks brought to a shuddering halt. With one minute left on the clock, Strathendrick made the decisive break through with Nathan using his robust, direct running style bursting through a tiring defence to crash over the line and secure a 3-2 victory in our favour.
All in all these were comprehensive displays by the team against very accomplished opponents in difficult conditions. Well done all!!

Primary 5

Our P5s are renowned for their fast attacking style along with aggressive defensive work. Today was no different as we faced 2 tough visiting teams.

Lathallan and McLaren had already played on our pitch, ensuring the ground was fully churned up. Our first game against McLaren was a real arm wrestle to begin with, both teams looking to make inroads towards the opposition try line. The perseveration of the Strathendrick players paid off, Fraser darting from his own half to create a well worked try for the supporting Rory. Our aggressive and speedy defensive line had McLaren on the back foot, forcing errors to which we capitalised; Cameron, Mckinlay and Oscar all adding to the shoreline. McLaren continued to fight away were rewarded with a try early in the second half. Fraser and Paddy replied with superb solo tries. In the end a comfortable victory, McLaren gave it their all and competed right to the end.

The last game was against Lathallan who gained enormous confidence from their first game. Again, quick line speed was the order of the day as we forced errors and pressurised our opponents. Fraser again instrumental in attack with Paddy outstanding with his defensive work. Mckinlay let from the front, winning countless turnovers at the ruck. The two Toms were as reliable as ever, supporting the ball carrier and making precious yards when going forward. Lathallan provided us with a tough game but Strathendrick were really on form, Mckinlay, Tom, Oscar, Rory and Cameron all claiming tries against a much bigger opposition.

All in all a great day and a pleasure to compete against McLaren and Lathallan.