Cartha u18s opened their West Region League 1 campaign with a powerful home performance, proving too strong for a young Hamilton side at Dumbreck. Although the Hamilton backs looked dangerous with ball in hand, the Cartha pack featuring Max Kane and Jakub Synszecki in their 2nd season of u18s rugby were able to punch holes at will through their younger opponents. A surprisingly strong showing from Aaron Forrester, after a limited pre-season, added to Hamilton's woes and with Ruaridh Hunter in the mood topped of by all-action hooker Rory Mulligan getting into the action everywhere, there really wasn't much for the Cartha backs left to do, other than get their basics right. It wouldn't be unlike this team to make hard work of that, but unfortunately for Hamilton they were to find the Cartha backs focused on the job in hand and enjoying the free space their forwards had delivered to run in some delightful tries.
With the match soon becoming too one-sided, the right thing to do was mix up the teams and a much more competitive half of rugby was played out, with the smiles on everyone's face at the end testament to that.
Congratulations to Rory Mulligan for his man of the match performance and best of luck to Hamilton as they grow into u18 rugby. Cartha will face tougher days, but the signs are this team are building some strong foundations and should look forward to a successful season.
Thanks to referee Davie Jamieson for ensuring the game was played in the right spirit throughout.