Birkmyre suffered their second defeat of the season on Saturday when they tumbled to a 57-21 defeat away to Carrick.
The Kilmacolm side find themselves at the bottom end of the table after the second round of fixtures, although both Saturday's game in Maybole and their opener at home to Wigtownshire were closer than the scorelines might suggest.
Carrick narrowly missed out on promotion last year and took the lead after five minutes in a game that already had been to both ends of the pitch.
Carrick were charging down the right wing, but their kick was recovered by Birkmyre full-back, Lewis Higgins; the visitors worked the ball across and up their own right wing, before kicking long into the opposition 22.
However, a couple of missed tackles on the run back saw Carrick advance deep into opposition territory, from where they moved the ball from the left of the pitch over to the right to score near the corner after other missed opportunities to make tackles.
This became a bit of a theme for the day as Carrick found themselves 19 points up after 20 minutes of play.
Birkmyr,e however, got one back when skipper Ross Moglia seized on a quick 'tap and go' penalty to weave his way past retreating defenders and run in from 25 metres out.
Carrick did, however, manage another couple of scores to go in at the half 33-7 up.
Birkmyre played better in the second half, though they did concede quickly after the restartt; for the next 20 minutes, the game ebbed and flowed both ways before Carrick scored again.
Moglia then scored his second try for Birkmyre when he intercepted a loose pass on the half-way line and manage to cut a line to touch down under the posts.
It was a well-deserved score as the Inverclyde side had not been getting the rub of the green by way of refereeing decisions for a period of time, and temperatures had been rising on and off the pitch.
There were three more scores in the final 10 minutes: the first two went in favour of Carrick before Birkmyre finished off with an excellent consolation try.
From a scrum 20 metres out, the visitors worked the ball left and right, probing at the tiring Carrick defence, and having been awarded a penalty close in, the ball was given to the heavy lifters in the team to take the ball to within inches.
Finally, Finlay Davidson got the ball in his hands and drove over from only a couple of feet out. David Cruickshank then slotted over his third conversion of the day as time ran out.
Birkmyre return to home soil this Saturday, September 7, to face Clydebank in what, even this early in the season, is looking like it could be a crucial match in defining the shape of the two teams' campaigns, with both sides rooted to the bottom of the West 2 standings - the Bankies after heavy early losses at home to Uddingston and away to Lomond/Helensburgh.
This Saturday's game gets under way at 3pm.
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