Garnock travelled the long road to Castle Douglas to take on home side, Stewartry, in a top of the table clash. Stewartry had not lost a home league fixture since September 2021. Prior to the game Garnock sat in top spot in the league four points ahead of the home side however Stewartry had played a game less.
The game kicked off in reasonable conditions with Garnock playing down the slight slope . It was evident from the early exchanges that this was going to be a physical encounter with neither side willing to take a backward step. With 7 minutes gone Garnock were pressing around the Stewartry 22 and following a couple of forward attacks the ball was spun wide to winger Jared Reekie who touched down in the corner. The difficult conversion was wide 0-5
Stewartry restarted the game and Garnock were almost immediately penalised for an infringement. The home side kicked to touch 10m out. Garnock were able to defend the initial attacks however after spreading the ball from side to side the Stewartry No 8 was able to score . Conversion successful 7-5
A lot of the game was being played between the 22s with the strong defences generally on top. With 20 minutes gone Garnock worked their way to the 22 when referee, Summers, awarded them a penalty. Livewire scrum-half Adam McGowan took a quick tap, beat a couple of defenders and put centre, Rory Dominy, into space to cruise over. Conversion successful 7-12.
The game continued to flow from end to end however the only further score of the half was a penalty from Garnock’s Keir Walker. The half time whistle blew with the score at Stewartry 7 Garnock 15
The second half started with Stewartry having the benefit of the slight slope and their advantage was increased early in the half when a Garnock back received a yellow card for a high tackle. This setback only seemed to galvanise the visitors as shortly thereafter stand off Keir Walker increased their lead with a penalty. 7-18
From the restart Garnock again attacked the Stewartry half working their way to the 10m line. The ball was taken up the blind side by Keir Walker who offloaded in the tackle to the ever supporting Lewis McGeachy. The big second row was stopped 10m out however he got the ball away to winger Jared Reekie . A great covering tackle from the home side halted Garnock just short of the line however not to be thwarted Luke Wynn picked the ball up at the back of the ruck and barged over. Conversion successful 7-25
Despite the scoreline Stewartry were still not beaten and they continued to run the ball at the visitors at every opportunity. With 15 minutes to go the home side were pressing hard in the Garnock 22 and eventually the visitors ran out of defenders allowing Stewartry prop to score from short range. Conversion good 14-25
Stewartry took heart from the score and redoubled their efforts spinning the ball wide and trying to attack from any area of the pitch. Not to be outdone Garnock increased their defensive efforts and created attacks of their own when the opportunities arose.
With 8 minutes to go and Stewartry pressing the visitors 22 Garnock were penalised and received a yellow card for one of the front row. Once again being reduced to 14 only seemed to increase the visitors resolve. Despite a number of periods of pressure in the closing minutes the home team were unable to breach the Garnock defence. Full time Stewartry 14 Garnock 25
This was a great contest between two good sides and provided a tense spectacle for both sets of supporters. The results leaves Garnock in top spot 8 points ahead of Stewartry who have a game in hand.
Garnock’s next fixture is on 18th February against Annan at Lochshore
Garnock squad :- Sheills, O’Neil, A Miller, Watson, McGeachy, Wilson, Ramsay-Miller, Wynn, McGowan, K Walker, Reekie, Dominy. McCann, Woods, R Walker. Replacements Armstrong, D Miller, Perry, Taggart
