West of Scotland v Ardrossan 6th October 2012
It was another glorious afternoon at Burnbrae, the sun was shining and the pitch was in perfect condition for a cracking game of rugby. West were against Ardrossan Accies who were fourth in the league.
Ardrossan kicked off and the ball was in West?s half for the first few minutes and the visitors pressured the home line. Ardrossan were performing well and some poor tackling allowed their no 8 to score. It was successfully converted, 0-7, 3 minutes in. West kicked downfield to restart the game and Accies catch and run up to just before the halfway line. In the ruck they were caught offside giving West a long penalty which Mark Davis successfully converted. 3-7, 7minutes gone.
The visitors restarted strongly and not long after the restart they scored when West lost their lineout, allowing Ardrossan?s bigger players to charge through the West tackles. This put the score at 3-14 as the try was successfully converted. West soon had another penalty shot at goal which was missed and Ardrossan kicked down into touch. This was followed by a lineout which West won and played the ball to the half way where they knocked on giving Accies a scrum. They picked up from the scrum and came close to scoring - luckily they dropped the ball in the tackle. West picked up the ball and kicked down into touch, Accies won the lineout and kicked back upfield into touch. The play was messy until West stole possession at a lineout and showed some cracking play which was rewarded in a try by Alex Fisken, it wasn?t converted. 8-14, 24 minutes in.
West remained strong taking down the opposition when they came close to scoring. From a maul West showed good play again and the ball bounced into the diving Harry Russell?s hands who scored and Davis successfully converted. 15-14. Thirty minutes were gone when West kicked down the pitch and the visitors attacked but they knocked on. For the scrum Calum Hastie and Gordon Bulloch came on the park to give the pack more strength and power. The scrum was wheeled and West lost possession. Accies picked and drove from the scrum and Mark Davis made a try saving tackle. Ardrossan then had a scrum but West?s defence was still strong taking down the attack. Ardrossan were still close to scoring but knocked on again. West kicked to clear their lines.
The visitors once more dodged through a couple of West tackles giving them a try which was successfully converted, 15-21. West restarted and chased downfield but Accies beat them to it and kicked the ball down into touch. West lost another lineout but the half time whistle went. The home side finished the half still in touch but having been let down by poor tackling allowing Ardrossan to stay ahead. The substitutions however were beginning to show in the packs stability.
The home side started the second half with a kick downfield. Accies caught and kicked back. West then knocked on giving the visitors a scrum. Ardrossan showed the stronger play from the start of the second half and passed wide and scored in the corner. The conversion however dropped short of the posts. 15-26.
Quick play from West and a high up and under that was not covered allowed Mark Davis to nip in and score in the corner, Mark also well converted. 22-26, seven minutes into the second half. West then missed another penalty at goal. The visitors then kicked downfield which the home side kicked and chased back upfield. Ardrossan beat West to the ball and passed wide dodging tackles and scored in the corner again. The conversion was unsuccessful making the score 22-31 with 13 minutes gone in the second half.
Soon after West had a couple of missed tackles which allowed Accies to score again in the corner. The conversion was missed. 22-36 it was looking like the same old story for West however the team found new strength and came back strong and after pressuring Accies defence Leask Carnegie scored in the corner. It wasn?t converted. 27-36.
From the restart Ardrossan kicked down the field and a good kick from Ross McAulay rolled into touch. West won the lineout and a quick short sprint through the defence allowed Andy Ritchie to 
score, it was successfully converted, 34-36 - game on. The home side were on a roll with Calum Hastie making his presence felt with good tackling and ball running. West were kicking very long kicks upfield which tired Ardrossan?s big forwards however it was the visitors who came close to scoring but another excellent kick from Ross McAulay cleared West lines.
From the lineout, which West won, some more positive play from the home side gave them another try from YB (Stuart Malone). Davis successfully converted, 41-36 the home side were finally ahead again. West were not done there as almost straight after they scored again this time from no. 9 Harry Russell. This was not converted. 46-36.
5 minutes to go and the visitors still tried to attack but with the final whistle due West scored again with Mark Davis touching down in front of the posts after a strong run. He converted his own try to give him 19 points on the day and a final score of 53-36. Defences were not on top in this match and West will need to start making the tackles count early on next week when they take on Greenock Wanderers at Fort Matilda (kick off 3pm. The next home game is against Dumfries Saints on the 20th October (kick off 3 pm.
West Team: Paul Howell, Iain Henderson, Ben Fulton, Jack Walker, Luke McLaren, Angus Thomson, Jamie McAulay, Andrew Ritchie, Harry Russell, Ross McAulay, Ross Carnegie, Stuart Malone, Mark Sim.
Subs: Leask Carnegie, Gordon Bulloch, Calum Hastie