The Strathendrick squad travelled to Uddingston in determined fashion for Round 2 of the National Shield. There was a resolve to turn round the result of this season’s previous league meeting when the home side won in a high scoring, 73 point, match.

With Uddingston having the lead over ‘Endrick in the league sitting in 4th place with Strathendrick in 5th. Both teams had played and won their two games since New Year – Uddingston recording a remarkable 158 points and beating the league leaders!! It looked like the travelling 22 were on a tough mission.

The prospect of another high scoring match was reinforced by a first half that saw five tries in a well-balanced contest. It was Strathendrick who started in the better form as in the opening phases they made progress towards their opponent’s line. James Ogilvy was first to score after four minutes, the try converted by Ben Anderson to give ‘Endrick a 7 point lead. From the restart it was the visitors who were proving hard to stop as Finn Walford fielded the kick and charged into the would be tacklers, when he was stopped the ball was quickly recycled to allow centre Brian Mundell to make a clean break upfield. There was no shortage of supporting players and the ball was finally in the hands of Euan Hylands who scored under the posts. With another successful Anderson conversion ‘Endrick had a 14 point lead with six minutes played.

In the next 10 minutes Uddingston first broke into the game and then take a dominant role as they opened their scoring sheet - first with a couple of kicks to touch from penalty awards and a well-supported midfield break earning a try close to the posts. 15 minutes on the clock. The restart kick was gathered by Uddingston who took play forward at pace using well drilled hands and close support – as play progressed towards the ‘Endrick line the same hole appeared to open again which was gladly accepted by Uddingston’s O’Donnell for a game levelling 7 point score. 16 minutes played 4 tries and 4 conversions on the scoreboard.

Both sides made great efforts to take the lead but all efforts were thwarted by determined defending which continued until the 30th minute when Uddingston were given an advantage after Craig Mundell was given a 10 minute rest. It took the home side only three minutes to make this advantage tell as a missed kick to touch was well returned ending with a try which went unconverted. ‘Endrick appeared rattled by this as the restart kick failed to cover the required 10m to give the confident Uddingston pack a scrum in midfield. The 14 ‘Endrick men defended bravely to the end of the first half to keep the deficit to only five points.

Half time score – Uddingston 19 Strathendrick 14

The second half started with Uddingston still in determined mood as they dominated play. This was rewarded with a try eight minutes into the half, which, once again, went unconverted but did increase the lead to 10 points.

With Strathendrick not known for famous comebacks, the visiting spectators were possibly slightly concerned as to the outcome of the match. They need not have worried as the players rallied and raised their game taking it to their opponents with a spell of pressure resulting in a number of penalty awards. These were all quickly taken as the pace of the match seemed to rise – the final move saw the ball in the hands of Dougie Duff who with a couple of side steps scored close to the posts for another converted try which cut the Uddingston lead to three points. Both sides now believing that they could win the match.

It appeared to those on the touchline that ‘Endrick were now playing with the degree of control and lack of panic which had been missing in the first 50 minutes of the match as they pressed towards their opponent’s line. As Uddingston defended a series of drives, they won possession and tried to play their way clear, but were unfortunate to lose control of the ball which was eagerly collected by Charlie Walker who gathered and touched down. Anderson again added the extra two points as ‘Endrick regained the lead. 59 minutes played score 24 – 28.

As both sides made great efforts to win the match, the strength of both defences was evident. The next score was a penalty as Anderson added three points to ‘Endrick’s total – given a similar opportunity a few moments later he was unable to add more points as the ball hit the post and rebounded into the field of play.

With the match now entering the last 10 minutes it was clear that both teams did not consider the contest won or lost as both strived to score. With only two minutes of play remaining it was ‘Endrick who were looking the most likely to score. From a scrum, which had been under pressure all day by a strong Uddingston eight, the ball was collected and driven forward – from the last of these drives Murray Calderwood picked up and crashed over. There was less than one minute of play remaining and kicker Anderson had sufficient self-control to let the clock tick down before his kick which proved to be the last action of the match.

Final score – Uddingston 24 Strathendrick 38

There is no doubt that this game was a great event with both sides showing a good number of rugby skills. All of the 22 ‘Endrick players are to be commended for their efforts. Special mention has to be made however of Finn Walford who ran relentlessly at the opposition bouncing any number of tacklers along with scrum half Finlay Watt who was always on hand to move the ball clear and made one telling break late in the 2nd half. Angus Morrison also put in a good shift disrupting the opponent’s line outs and making telling tackles all across the pitch. There were no stars in the ‘Endrick team but all heroes.

This result sees ‘Endrick progress to the 3rd round of the competition, which will be played on 2nd March. Our opponents are unknown as we await the draw; details will be made available as soon as known. At this time there is no match scheduled for next weekend due to the Six Nations match at Murrayfield, we are however making efforts to find a fixture amongst the backlog.

CJ