On a calm still day Kilmarnock hosted local rivals Ardrossan in what turned out to be a game of two distinctly different halves. The visitors kicked off and the ball was knocked on for the first scrum to Ardrossan. The set piece was won but a knock on from the stand-off gave Kilmarnock the put in and so the game progressed with the teams sharing possession with no clear scoring opportunities as the defences of both sides were to the fore. Sean McCafferty replaced Adam Roy in the second row for Kilmarnock after half an hour.

After a bout of pressure from Ardrossan Kilmarnock second row Niall Murphy won a lineout ball releasing the backline and centre Robbie Colman kicked over the heads of the visitors defence, raced through certain to score but knocked on trying to collect the ball. Kilmarnock pushed Ardrossan off the ball from the scrum to win a penalty but conceded same for holding on the ground. Ardrossan forced their way into Kilmarnock territory and the game stopped for a blood injury to an Ardrossan back row player and the referee called a timeout and the water boys for both sides were summoned.

Ardrossan forced a lineout in the Kilmarnock twenty two and a catch and drive gained ground with the ball being released and back inside from the stand off to the open side wing forward who burst through for the opening try of the day in the thirty ninth minute. The simple conversion gave the visitors a 7-0 lead.

Ardrossan fielded the restart kick and their clearance kick was charged down with Kilmarnock mounting an attack through Taylor McHarg, Craig Sheppard and Colman with the ball ending up in touch to close the first half.

The half time pep talk from coaches Stuart Pratt and Paul Meehan must have energised the Kilmarnock side after a somewhat inept first half performance. Jonathan Goodlet replaced debut prop Connor McCluskey. A repeat of the kick-off saw Ardrossan knock on to give Kilmarnock a scrum which was readily won to set up a backline attack in turn winning a penalty. From the lineout the Kilmarnock drive was held up and a scrum to the visitors. Out the line and Ardrossan centre Kyle Wood booted upfield, Ryan Andrews fielded to Ethan McIsaac whose pass went astray to Chris Milligan and into touch. Ardrossan won their lineout and attacked through the midfield with Kilmarnock’s Sam Diamond stripping the ball and passing to stand-off Craig McWhirter who fed Jordan Duncan and then to Chris Milligan. The powerful winger set off from the opposition ten metre line and agonisingly burst and pirouetted through four tackles to score a well deserved try five minutes into the half.
Craig McWhirter narrowly missed the conversion. Ardrossan 7-5 ahead.

Kilmarnock were buoyed by the score and slowly began to take better control of the match winning two quick penalties with the referee speaking to both captains about back chatting. An injury to the Ardrossan tight head prop led to him being replaced and the scrums were then uncontested to the advantage of the visiting side. Soon after Kilmarnock’s Gary Thornton came on as substitute to replace loose head prop. Kilmarnock’s next scrum saw flanker Sam Diamond break passing to captain Ryan Andrews who was stopped short of the line and from the ruck the ball was passed to Jonathan Goodlet who barged over the line for a try. No conversion by Craig McWhirter but Kilmarnock 10-7 ahead after seventeen minutes of the half.

Kilmarnock maintained the pressure gaining a penalty after a high tackle on Robbie Colman followed by a yellow card to the open side Ardrossan flanker. Kilmarnock capitalised from the tap penalty with a try after interplay between the backs and forwards with hooker Jordan Duncan racing home from fifteen metres to score in the corner midway through the half. Craig McWhirter was well short with the touchline conversion. Kilmarnock ahead 15-7.

The restart kick by Ardrossan saw the bouncing ball beat two defenders to give the home side a lineout ten metres from the goal line. Sam Diamond won the ball at the tail of the lineout and was held giving Ardrossan a penalty which was conveted by centre Kyle Wood 15-10 the lead.

Two further substitutions by Kilmarnock saw Iain Spiers and Connor Turnbull replaced with Craig McWhirter moving to scrum half and David Smith in the fly half position and Ethan MacIsaac on the wing. The restart kick was knocked on into touch and Kilmarnock advanced into opposition territory with Ardrossan kicking out of defence to give Kilmarnock a lineout on the halfway line. The ball was won by Niall Murphy and two backline moves faltered with a knock on. Ardrossan won the scrum and their clearance kick was charged down. Kilmarnock kept up the pressure and forced a five metre lineout. The ball was thrown to the front of the line and was taken by Gary Thornton who was unstoppable from five metres out to score Kilmarnock’s fourth and bonus point try. From five metres in Craig McWhirter’s conversion put Kilmarnock 22-10 ahead with twelve minutes remaining.

Taylor McHarg was substituted by Adam Roy and Kilmarnock were now in the driving seat but the visitors were resilient and mounted a couple of attacks with Kilmarnock being penalised for a deliberate knock on with no yellow card being shown. From the resulting penalty an Ardrossan kick was charged down and Robbie Colman ran forty metres with his inside pass failing find a Kilmarnock player. Meanwhile tempers flared in the background with handbags focused on the teenage Ardrossan scrum half who emerged unscathed. The visitors resilience faded and after Kilmarnock stole a lineout they knocked on with Ardrossan kicking upfield from the scrum. Ethan MacIsaac fielded and passed to Ryan Andrews, his pass was taken by Adam Roy then onto David Smith who linked with Craig Sheppard and from the twenty two he raced and swallow dived over the goal line for Kilmarnock’s fifth and final try. No touchline conversion score 27-10.

In the remaining two minutes Kilmarnock took possession from the restart kick with Robbie Colman making a kick and chase, the ball was taken by the Ardrossan left winger who eluded two Kilmarnock tacklers in his twenty two and raced towards the Kilmarnock halfway and was tackled into touch by Ryan Andrews to end the game. Kilmarnock worthy winners 27-10 whilst conceding ten penalties to Ardrossan’s nine.

The after match huddle heard coach Stuart Pratt regale, “ It wasn’t pretty but we gained five points. We moved the ball and did the basics and got the result. We need to enjoy the challenge when we are down, we can only get better.” Stuart named Kilmarnock’s Jonathan Goodlet his Man of The Match.