Highland 22 - Newton Stewart 10

Newton Stewart played into a strong breeze in the first half on a good wide pitch in perfect condition.
The Reds brought a full squad of players with them much to the disappointment of their travelling President who had dusted down his kit and polished his boots in case he was needed.
Newton Stewart kicked off and were put under pressure from the start as the kick did not go ten metres. Highland used the field position to attack deep into the visitor's territory with the ball being scrambled into touch well inside the Red's twenty-two giving Highland a good attacking lineout.
From the lineout the visitors managed to get a hand to the ball but were only able to tap back a bouncing ball and were slow to gather allowing the Highland open-side flanker to reacted quickest, picking the ball up and diving over the line for a soft try that was converted.
Newton Stewart still seemed to have the journey in their legs and where already looking at a mountain to climb with the score at 7 - 0.
The visitors began to get more pocession and territorial advantage but were slow to clear the rucks allowing the motivated Highland forwards to counter ruck and disrupt Newton Stewart's attacking play and when the ball was lost it was kicked down field to start again.
The game see-sawed up and down the pitch with neither side looking like scoring but after a few missed tackles and poor decision making Highland scored two more unconverted tries before half-time, giving an interval score-line of 17 - 0 in favour of the home team.
The second half began with Newton Stewart hoping to use the wind to good advantage and pin Highland back in their half. However they were still finding it difficult to win clean ball that could be used to create an attack in good field position and the game was being broken up with a flurry of penalties allowing Highland to relieve the pressure.
The Newton Stewart set piece worked well but did not create the platform necessary to allow a new look backline to operate effectively.
It was not until the last twenty minutes that Newton Stewart finally ran the journey out of their legs with Keith McWhirter making a good tackle in the midfield which dislodged the ball and allowed Greame Armstrong to pick the ball up and make a good solo run through a broken defence and reach out of the last ditch tackle to score a good individual try.
The conversion was missed but this showed what was possible with a little more commitment and clinical finishing.
Newton Stewart now started to dominate the play and put runners into gaps and after a ruck in midfield the ball was passed to Gary McDonald on the blind side who crashed through the first few defenders and fed the pass to Ewan Dewar who injected a change of pace through the remaining defenders and then passed to Neil Taylor who had come back on the angle to score his first try for Newton Stewart Firsts. The try was unconverted but put Newton Stewart in touching distance at 17 - 10 with about 15 minutes still on the clock.
The Reds made a mess of receiving the kick-off allowing Highland to turn the ball over and spin the ball wide and allow the winger to run through to score Highland's fourth try which was unconverted and extend Highland's lead once again to 12 points.
Soon after the re-start Newton Stewart where down to 14 men as Ewan Dewar was yellow carded for not using his arms in a tackle. Although they kept trying to create pressure and score another try Highland were resolute in their defence and the rest of the game remained scoreless.
Squad: S. McWhirter (capt), S. Kingston, G.McDonald,, R. Vance, M. Adamss, M. Wallace, E. Dewar , D. Skimming, J. McWhirter, S. Cluckie, C. Murray, J. Wallace, G. Armstrong, K. McWhirter, E. McNeil, K. Faulds, N. Taylor & J. Henderson.
This week sees Newton Stewart first team return to Bladnoch Park to play Greenock. The second XV are also playing at 'home' but the game has been moved to the school pitch at Blairmount Park with the second team pitch at Bladnoch still recovered from the damage caused by this years Agricultural Show. Both kick-offs are at 3pm and your continued support is much appreciated as both teams try to climb their respective leagues.
This week will also be memorable because it is the last game for John McWhirter before he leaves on a sabbatical to New Zealand.