Birkmyre 27 – 24 Irvine
Venue: Birkmyre Park, Kilmacolm
Date: Saturday, 18th October 2025
Kick-off: 2:45pm
Arnold Clark West Region League Division 2 (Men’s)
Birkmyre secured a valuable home win over Irvine on Saturday at Birkmyre Park. The Kilmacolm side were 12–0 down – and down to 13 men at one stage – but fought back to claim a 27–24 victory.
Irvine opened the scoring in just the second minute. Birkmyre had won a scrum on their own 5m line, but the ball was fumbled as the pack was driven back and the Irvine No. 9 pounced to score. The try went unconverted.
On 10 minutes, Owen Nicholas was shown a harsh yellow card for obstruction, when it looked more like the Irvine player ran into him. Two minutes later, Birkmyre stand-off David Cruickshank was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on. Irvine quickly made the most of the two-player advantage and scored their second try from close range.
From the restart, Birkmyre hit back. After turning over possession at a ruck, they won a penalty for offside 30 metres out. Winger Adam Hannah took a quick tap, caught the defence sleeping and powered in under the posts. He converted his own try.
On the 30-minute mark, Irvine’s big second row was shown a yellow card after deliberately tripping Nicholas. Five minutes later, Birkmyre capitalised when Cruickshank sent a great pass to Hannah, who still had plenty to do but fended off two tacklers on a run from the 22. With two minutes left in the half, Cruickshank extended the lead to five points with an excellent penalty from around 45 metres.
Birkmyre struck first in the second half as Cruickshank slotted another penalty, this time from just under 40 metres. They then went a man up again when the Irvine No. 6 was yellow-carded for going off his feet at a ruck. From there, Birkmyre gained control, and in the 60th minute Ali Peacock scored. From a ruck 10 metres out, Cruickshank fired him a perfect pass on a crash line, cutting through the Irvine backline to score. Cruickshank added the extras.
There was no further scoring until the final play of the match, when Irvine worked the ball up the park and crossed as the clock went red. Craig Williams missed the conversion, but the try reduced the gap to just three points – enough to earn Irvine both a losing bonus point and a try bonus.
Birkmyre now make the short trip to Bishopton this Saturday for the local derby. Bishopton sit just one point ahead in the league, so it’s set to be a closely fought contest.
Photo Credit: Fiona Wallace
Photo Credit: Fiona Wallace
Photo Credit: Fiona Wallace
Photo Credit: Fiona Wallace
Photo Credit: Fiona Wallace
Full Results – Saturday 18th October 2025:
- Birkmyre RFC 27–24 Irvine RFC
- Cambuslang RFC 90–26 Uddingston RFC
- Cumbernauld RFC 12–15 Bishopton RFC
- Mid Argyll RFC 7–53 Lochaber RFC
- Wigtownshire RFC 45–16 Waysiders/Drumpellier RFC
Next Fixtures – Saturday 25th October 2025 (3:00 PM Kick-offs):
- Bishopton RFC vs Birkmyre RFC
- Irvine RFC vs Wigtownshire RFC
- Lochaber RFC vs Cumbernauld RFC
- Mid Argyll RFC vs Uddingston RFC
- Waysiders/Drumpellier RFC vs Cambuslang RFC
League Table:
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | D | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wigtownshire RFC | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 197 | 144 | +53 | 27 |
| 2 | Cambuslang RFC | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 322 | 139 | +183 | 26 |
| 3 | Cumbernauld RFC | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 186 | 86 | +100 | 22 |
| 4 | Irvine RFC | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 190 | 123 | +67 | 22 |
| 5 | Lochaber RFC | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 223 | 109 | +114 | 17 |
| 6 | Bishopton RFC | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 139 | 169 | -30 | 15 |
| 7 | Birkmyre RFC | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 140 | 203 | -63 | 14 |
| 8 | Uddingston RFC | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 125 | 369 | -244 | 7 |
| 9 | Mid Argyll RFC | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 105 | 200 | -95 | 6 |
| 10 | Waysiders/Drumpellier RFC | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 92 | 177 | -85 | 5 |
Table correct as at 20/10/25