Earlier in the season Cumnock beat Paisley by forty points in a comfortable victory. However, the home side’s results have been much better in the last few weeks and this was always going to be a potential banana skin for Cumnock.
The game started brightly for Paisley when Cumnock were penalised for holding onto the ball on the ground straight from the kick off. Paisley’s stand off added the three points to give his side an early lead.
Cumnock fought straight back when a chip and chase from Kyle Johnson resulting in a penalty for a punch thrown in the general direction of Johnson. The referee sent the Paisley man to the sin bin for ten minutes and Johnson slotted the penalty to equal the scores.
Cumnock dominated possession for the next spell of the game with their line out which has been consistent only in its inconsistency this season giving them a solid supply of ball. They even managed a series of driving mauls deep in Paisley territory and looked as if they were going to push the much larger Paisley pack over their own line. The maul was eventually stopped short but this did not stop Cumnock who continued to pummel the Paisley defence with Ross Black and Conner Nisbet both going close. However, Paisley’s defence has improved enormously since the beginning of the season and they held firm and eventually were able to clear the ball up the pitch.
Cumnock’s scrum was also impressive with tighthead prop, Donald Hunter, dominating a series of opponents that Paisley put up against him. He was ably assisted in this by Sean Fulton returning to action at second row who put his size and strength to good use at set pieces and around the field. Cumnock continued to dominate the possession with their newly reliable set piece. They were unable to make much headway against a determined home defence and a few errors started to creep in with a few forward passes as they tried to force their play. Cumnock were also guilty of kicking the ball away when they were unable to make breaks. They did manage to grab a penalty for Paisley going off their feet at a ruck and Johnson again obliged by adding three points to give his side the lead back. They didn’t have it for long though when Paisley pulled the score back level with their stand off adding his second penalty just before half time.
Cumnock have made a worrying habit of starting slowly in second halves this season and so it proved again when Paisley grabbed the opening try of the game after a series of drives from their forwards. Cumnock regrouped after this and hit back hard with good pressure from the kick off resulting in turn over. The ball was spun wide to find Martin Hastings who showed his pace to make the corner for his second try in two games.
Johnson missed the conversion but made up for moments later with a perfectly placed kick which was picked up by substitute wing Gregor McMillan. He beat a man before flicking an offload up to Mark Bennett who showed his elusiveness to beat the remaining defenders to score under the posts. Johnson was on target this time with the conversion from in front of the posts.
The match became very tense with neither team dominating play. Cumnock were weakened when the scrums became uncontested as Paisley ran out of front row replacements. The home side eventually managed to set up a good position to attack after a series of penalties from Cumnock. They patiently attempted to drive Cumnock over their line but some heroic defence kept them at bay for a long spell. However, it is difficult to defend forever against such patient attack, especially when they have a massive weight advantage. Paisley grabbed their second try with a pushover try and their stand off needed to land the conversion in order to level the score with five minutes left on the clock. The kick crept over and the score was tied at eighteen apiece.
Like the first time Paisley scored this seemed to wake Cumnock and they soon won a penalty wide on the right. Johnson stepped up to take the kick and missed to the left. However, were unexpectedly given the chance to take the lead again when the referee judged some movement from Paisley to have distracted Johnson in his run up. This time Bennett stepped up to hit the kick and again the kick went awry.
Cumnock did not give up though and won a scrum which was spread wide and suddenly a massive gap opened up for Bennett who surged through and round the full back for the decisive score. The conversion was again missed but by this time it didn’t matter as the referee blew for full time.
Cumnock could take a huge sigh of relief as spectators, coaches and players alike went to check for extra grey hairs that may have come from the tension of this game. Paisley proved to be strong opponents and they will give a hard game to most teams in the league in the second half of this season. Cumnock were delighted with finally claiming their first away win of the season and hope to continue this with some more victories in the remainder of the season.
Man of the match was Mark Bennett for adding another two tries to his account.

Team: Craig Greer, Paul Miller, Donald Hunter, Sean Fulton, Blair McMillan, Alan Smith, David Kerr, Jamie Thomson, Scott Houston, Kyle Johnson, Ross Black, Mark Bennett, Conner Nisbet, Martin Hastings, Martin Thomson, Graham Hunter, Tony Foster, Gregor McMillan

Next week: Cumnock are at home against Loch Lomond in the final game before Christmas and New Year. Kick off is at 2pm.