Stewartry are through to the final of the Scotland West Bowl after a thrilling game against Dumfries.
Like the Calcutta Cup match between Scotland and England, it was a superb game that ended in a 12-12 draw.
Stewartry were awarded the victory under SRU Cup rules which state in the event of a draw where tries, kicks and yellow/red cards are equal the away team is awarded the win.
Like the Calcutta Cup clash, this was a game of two halves.
Dumfries started with a very clear hunger to win and the wind at their backs.
They were two tries and one kick up after 20 minutes as Stewartry tried and failed to run the ball down the middle of the park through the Dumfries forwards, despite being told not to try this tactic.
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Strong words at half-time and a few positional changes started to make a difference. Stewartry were very strong in the scrum and pushed Dumfries off the ball on a number of occasions. Lineouts were steady and Stewartry started to get on the forward foot with strong runs from Kerr, Dunbar, McGuire, Telfer and Budde.
A wee wobble midway through the second half saw Dumfries camped again on the Stewartry line but tremendous tackling by the whole Stewartry squad averted what would have been a killer punch by Dumfries.
The new back line of Gwynne, Spence and Forsyth worked really well with Forsyth scoring a superb try under the posts which was converted by Lochie Spence with 10 minutes on the clock.
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The Blacks kept the pressure on and just as the clock went into injury time Fraser Forsyth weaved through to score in the corner and secure a draw which was enough for the away team to progress to the final.
Once again great tackling by the whole team and special mention to the boys from the west of Galloway (Dozer Dunbar and Frank Gwynne).
Man of the match was stand-off Gwynne.
Stewartry squad: Andy Budde (captain), Lochie Spence, Connor McGuire, Ryan Cochrane, Gregor Todd, Oskar Kapron, Finlay Smith, Finlay Telfer, Archie Nicolson, Logan O’Malley, Ryan Kerr, Alistair Wood, Pacey Ho, Tommy McGrath, Patrick Quigley, Frazer Potts, Aiden Dunbar, Frank Gwynne, Fraser Forsyth.
