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Yesterday turned out to be a bridge too far for us with the Girls losing by 61-0 to Gala. Carrick held them well for the first half but once Gala got into their stride our girls were powerless to stop them. Some of the Carrick girls have only been playing for a few months and when you compare that to Gala who are undefeated for 3 years and it is easy to see why there is a gulf in class. more |
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Legendary actor John Cairney was in Maybole last week to discuss an exhibition of his paintings. Not many people know that “The Man Who Played Robert Burns” (to quote the title of his autobiography) enrolled as a student at the Glasgow School of Art in 1947 to study lithography with a view to becoming a layout artist in an advertising agency.
However, theatre in the form of a local drama club interrupted and John was diverted from a career in fine arts.This dramatic diversion lasted for more than 50 years and it was only after two marriages, five children and emigration to New Zealand in 1991 that he took up his paintbrush again.
John comments, “To my amazement the old relish was still there and the diversion I know now is the writing of books and the selling of same at performances and this keeps me away from the new passion of my dotage, painting.” He has recently returned home to Scotland and last week he visited his old friend Gordon Cockburn to plan a special exhibition of his work in Cockburn Gallery in Maybole High Street within the next couple of months.
Not too up in modern technology, “www” to John Cairney means “words, words, words”. Words to be written, read, recited, or researched alone or with his wife, Alannah O'Sullivan, his partner in The Pennyfarthing Partnership.
In a career that has spanned more than half a century, he has performed on every kind of stage from London's West End to the garden room of a millionaire's home in Texas, and before every kind of audience from the Royal Family to a hall full of shipyard workers out on strike in Glasgow. He appeared in Maybole Town Hall in the 1970s with his one man show on Robert Burns and last week when reminiscing about his appearance there he commented that it is the venue with “the best acoustics in Britain and I would love to appear there again.”
Trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama as a classical actor and singer with a natural tenor voice, he had early opportunities to sing in opera or join the Royal Shakespeare Company or the National Theatre, but he elected to go solo and has never regretted it. John has worked as an actor, recitalist, lecturer, director and theatre consultant, been published as an author and, most recently, exhibited as a painter. Now the world famous actor is bringing his paintings to Maybole – watch out for details! Presentation of the cake at Fairknowe with Mr Tunnock. It was very appropriate that we met with two of the residents aged 92years young, Cecelia McDowall and Helen Armstrong, who were toddlers when Save the Children was started 90 years ago to help the children who had lost family and homes during the first world war. The pictures also include another resident Millie Galloway, and catering staff Fiona Brownlee and chef David Welsh, Save the Children committee members Andrea Huthison and Becky Fleming and Mr Tunnock with a member of his staff Mr Sword. Photo was taken by Sandra Jamieson of Fairknowe. Residents were looking forward to enjoying the beautifully iced cake, donated by Mr Tunnock, and the chef expected to take some along with him to Cairn primary and St Cuthbert's primary schools in the next couple of days to share with the children. Special guests at Maybole’s Rainbow Services Day Care Centre last Friday morning was local resident Sammy Dalziel and his daughter Christine. Mr Dalziel had sent a donation of £250 to the Centre after his wife Mary died recently. He had written to owners Sandy and Alice Abbot to say, “Mary enjoyed going to Day Care; Mondays and Wednesdays were her brightest days as she patiently waited on getting picked up. “ Thanks for taking such good care of her. I hope this donation will be of good use to such a wonderful place.” Mr Abbot had invited Mr Dalziel to visit so that he could thank him for his kind gesture. “We have opened a special account for the Day Care Centre which will be used solely for activities and outings,” he said. “We have already held a sponsored silence and a coffee morning,” he added, “ and this donation will be added to the account along with a donation from Minnie Gallacher. Any other donations will be gratefully received as well.” SEASON OPENING COMPETITION 6TH APRIL, 9 HOLE NON HANDICAP NETT SCORE 1ST SCOTT MC CAHILL .... 34 2ND RAMSEY ECCLES .......34.5 3RD COLIN MC ILRAITH..... 35 4TH MALCOLM MC KAY......36 5TH KEVIN MC KEOWN.......37 TOM ANDERSON.........37 COLIN HARVEY............37 6TH BRIAN BOYD................38.5 7TH CRAIG HUTCHISON.....40 8TH DEREK MEDHURST....41.5 9TH SCOTT ANDERSON....43 The 14th annual Robin Speirs Memorial golf competition was played round Maybole golf course on Easter Sunday, April 12. Around 30 golfers turned out to play, before retiring to the Maybole Arms for some much needed food laid on by the proprietors Callum and Lesley. This year’s winner was Alan Brownlee with a competition record-equalling scratch 65 net 60. Runner up was the 2007 winner Michael Thomson 73 net 64, and 3rd was David Malone 75 net 66. The longest drive was by Michael Thomson and nearest the pin Alan Brownlee. Prizes donated by regulars and golfers were raffled and raised £180 for the British Heart Foundation. Attached photo: Robin’s Brother Paul hands over the trophy to Alan Brownlee (Centre) with Robin’s mum Robina Campbell (right). The successes just keep getting better and better. The 1st XV defeated Largs today by 44-0 to reach the Ayrshire Cup Final at Millbrae on Friday 24th April, kick off 7.30 pm. Marr will be our likely opponents so hopefully we can gain revenge for last years narrow loss. The U15 play their semi Final next Monday and if they win they will also be playing at Millbrae that evening with a 6.00 pm kick off. We took over 300 supporters to last seasons final however we hope to take an even bigger support this season. With the Girls U15 side reaching the Scottish Cup Final, the 2nd XV winning the Ayrshire League Division 2 title and the U15 boys winning the South Ayrshire League then what a season this is turning out to be. Groundhog Day - Friday evening saw both Carrick's U15 and 1st XV sides compete in their Ayrshire Cup Finals. The 1st XV were up against Marr College. This was a repeat of last years final that went right down to the wire and this year was no different. The game kicked off with Marr controlling the early stages. The Carrick boys looked nervous with some basic handling errors and missed tackles making Marr looking the more likely team to score. However after ten minutes Carrick started to settle down and it was clear for all to see that they were not going to sit back and accept Marr dominating the game. Both sides had chances to score but when the referee Mr Clark blew his whistle for half time the score was 0-0. Marr again started the second half at a greater tempo and from a scrum just outside the Carrick 22 their replacement 15 burst through the Carrick midfield to score under the post. The conversion was successful. The teams then traded two penalties each to take the score to 6-13. Both sides tried everything to get the next score but both defences were in top form. The final whistle went and while the Marr boys were delighted with their victory the Carrick boys were distraught at coming so close once again. To put the Carrick boys achievement into perspective 19 of the Carrick squad of 22 have never played club rugby. Unlike Marr the boys have no experience of Mini or midi rugby and have no rugby within the PE department. The only rugby they get is training for 1- 2 hours a week after school. For these boys to not only reach the final but run a team like Marr so close is a truly remarkable achievement. It is also to their credit that Marr now field a near 1st XV pack against them and unlike what certain people have stated this was certainly no Marr U17 side and that is a huge compliment to the hard work that they have put in and shows the strides that Carrick are making. Mr Brown said afterwards" The only thing that was missing this evening was the victory. Everybody who was here tonight could see how much this meant to those boys. Around 16 of the squad are leaving school in June and they are without doubt the finest school rugby side that Carrick have ever produced. I am so proud of them for what they have achieved and even though winning would have been wonderful I told them that I and the school see them as winners. I have never worked with a better bunch of players and they will leave Carrick with the memories of making friends and enjoying the game of rugby. I doubt there will be a club side, never mind school side in the country who has a better team spirit than we have and I just wonder what we could have achieved if these boys had received exposure to rugby at an earlier age. That is the main challenge for us at the school. We are playing catch up and in truth that is why schools like Marr will always have a huge advantage over us. We play a strong forwards game and we make no appology for that but I have to say I was impressed by how the Marr pack played and stood toe to toe with us during the whole match. If you could have combined the best players from both of tonight's sides you would have a team that would compete at the very top of schools rugby in Scotland. The support again was wonderful. We again took over 350 supporters to the finals and that is something we as a school are extremely proud of." The 1st XV have two events left for this season. First up is the Kilmarnock RFC U18 7s next Saturday and then the big farewell day for many - The FP game on Saturday 13th June. Mr Brown has even promised to lead the singing contest at the after match BBQ. Carrick U15s are County Champions Cup Finals evening got off to a great start for Carrick Academy when the boys brought home the silverware in what was their best performance of the season. They were playing against Belmont Academy who are also having a fantastic season with their U18 Side reaching the Scottish Plate Final against Kelso. Carrick fielded a near full strength side with only one late change being made due to illness. The Blues kicked off and it was clear that the Carrick pack were in no mood to lose the battle up front. They committed numbers to the breakdown and moved the ball away from contact at every opportunity. The opening try came after 5 minutes when stand off Connor Wyllie dummied his opposite number and dived under the post. Blair Jardine was successful with the conversion (7-0). Carrick then dominated precedings for the next 20 minutes and scored a further two tries one from Andrew Hudson and the other from Thomas Johnstone. Blair Jardine was successful with one of these kicks and sandwiched in between the tries was a well struck penalty again by Jardine. HT 22-0 The second half started with Blair Jardine catching the kick off and running straight through the Belmont defence to score under the post. Again he was successful with the kick. (29-0). Belmont never gave up and scored a well worked try with 20 minutes remaining. Carrick were then awarded a further two penalties and man of the match Jardine was successful with both (35-5). At this point a combination of good Belmont play and a lack of focus on the Carrick side allowed Belmont to score 3 unanswered tries to take the final score to 35-20. When referee Lynch blew his final whistle the Carrick boys were jumping for joy. They had won the Ayrshire Cup and was just rewards for all their hard work throughout the season. Coach Colin Sturgeon said afterwards: " The forwards dominated up front and this was the key to our victory. We played Belmont in the league and won however their forwards gave our pack a hard time during that game. They turned that performance on its head and even though Belmont scored 4 tries we never looked like losing this game. It has been a pleasure to coach these boys and I hope many will step up to the first XV next season." Mr Brown was also delighted: " These boys went about their business very quietly this season and tonight's performance was their finest of the season. The school is delighted for them all. Both Colin Sturgeon and Andy Clark deserve great credit for the work they have put into this side. Unlike the U18s a lot of these boys play club rugby and make up the Carrick U15 club side who finished joint top of the Glasgow U15 2nd Division and we also have two boys who play for the Ayr RFC U15 side that reached the Scottish Cup Final. These boys will make up the 1st XV for the next 2/3 years and I am looking forward to working with at least 8 of them with the 1st XV next season along side Colin who will take the backs" That is the end of a long season for the U15 side. They have played 18 matches and won 11, drew 2 and lost 5. They came up against a very good Earlston side in the Scottish and other than that this was their only heavy defeat. If the boys continue to develop at their current rate the future is certainly looking bright . The support for the Carrick boys was fantastic and the boys would like to thank the people who turned up to give both teams their backing. The Finals evening was another huge success and that is due to the hard work of Damien Kelly, Greg Sinclair, Stephen Main and the coaches that they put in place in many schools. Also to all the teachers who gave up their time to ensure that the future of Ayrshire schools rugby is in safe hands. On behalf of all at Carrick Academy we would like to wish Mr Murrie and the Belmont under 18 side all the best on Monday evening in their Plate Final against Kelso. It would be fitting for Belmont to win in what has been a fantastic season for youth rugby in South Ayrshire.” Press release for Sunday's final including match day details. Carrick Academy pupils playing at the very highest level of the game!!!!
Top young rugby talent from
the far reaches of the Scottish lowlands are preparing for
the National Midi Finals at Murrayfield on Sunday (29 March,
kick-off 12 noon) – admission is free. Yesterday turned out to be a bridge too far for us with the Girls losing by 61-0 to Gala. Carrick held them well for the first half but once Gala got into their stride our girls were powerless to stop them. Some of the Carrick girls have only been playing for a few months and when you compare that to Gala who are undefeated for 3 years and it is easy to see why there is a gulf in class. Carrick did have their chances to score with Paige McCurdie, Emma Alexander and Catherine Easter all coming close. However Carrick can console themselves with the fact that they are still the top school side in the country at this level as Gala are a club side. The girls had a great experience playing on the main field at Murrayfield and the after match meal in the Presidents suit. If the girls work hard they have every chance of getting there again The squad was: Emma Alexander Georgia Wallace Amber Johnstone Georgina Limond Paige Murray Chloe Coburn Caryn McWhirter Caitlin Hughes Beth Davidson Eilidh Blondin Emma McClung Louise Cochrane Catherine Easter Megan Kirk Sarah Brown Lauren Wardrop Paige McCurdie Melissa Scobie Eilidh Thomson Shannyn Henderson Results for the presidents cup round 1 and 2 from April 21st and 22nd . President’s Cup round one handicap nett score 1st John Wood 8 63 2nd Alan Brownlee 5 66 Brian Boyd 13 66 3rd Tom Anderson 11 71 4th Colin Harvey 6 72 Ross Murchie 14 72 5th Stuart Maxwell 11 73 Gary Steele 7 73 Colin McIlraith 20 73 6th Drew Ferguson 13 74 Kevin Doyle 12 74 Malcolm McKay 11 74 7th Scott Anderson 10 79 non return Tom Foster, Craig Hutchison and Steven Ferrol css67 President’s Cup round 2 handicap nett score tot 1st Brian Boyd 13 67 133 2nd John Wood 8 72 135 3rd Colin McIIraith 20 64 137 4th Tom Anderson 11 67 138 5th Alan Brownlee 5 74 140 6th Colin Harvey 6 72 144 css 66 |
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