Biggar stay on top of the pile with draw

Biggar Rugby Club rounded off the calendar year with a 22-22 draw at home to Gala, which keeps them 10 points clear at the top of the Tennent’s National League 1 table.

In doing so, they preserved their unbeaten record at Hartree Mill for the whole of 2019, and the three points taken, including a four-try bonus, may go a long way to deciding the outcome of the league title.

The league now takes a winter break and the players have a chance to recharge their batteries, ahead of their resumption on January 11, when they travel to Dundee HSFP.

Gala broke the deadlock through a Sam Cooke penalty, but Biggar hit back and Mark Bertram and Conor Lavery combined to send in Andy Jardine to score, for a 5-3 lead.

However, the lead changed hands again, as Ruairi Howarth crossed, with Cooke converting.

Gala further stretched this lead when Cooke intercepted a Rory Hutton pass and scored under the posts, converting for a 17-5 interval lead.

Biggar were determined not to let their home record slip, and came out for the second half all guns blazing.

They drove upfield and when a Gala infringement halted their progress, another penalty from Jardine took play to within 10 metres of the line, where the catch-and-drive was employed to good effect, with Donald Voas crashing over for the try.

That fightback was derailed somewhat shortly after that when Fergus Johnstone carved through the defence to put Gala 22-10 in front.

Further pressure on Gala saw them concede another couple of penalties, with Jardine again kicking Biggar to the corner.

At that point, and with a try in the offing, prop Terry Logan brought the line drive down illegally and was immediately sin-binned.

Biggar pressed home their one-man advantage by opting for a scrum and a pushover try was credited to Ross Jackson. Jardine was wide with the conversion but with 15 minutes left there was just one score in the game.

The hosts had Gala on the back-foot by this point and eventually got the equalising try.

The position had been won from a penalty and kick to touch, and the driving maul was this time converted by prop Richard Bassett, with Jardine’s conversion tying the match at 22-22.

There was the chance of a penalty deciding the contest and when Gala’s restart was kicked too long, Biggar had a scrum on half-way, putting them back on the attack. They worked their way into the Gala half, won yet another penalty, and opted to kick for goal, which would have won the contest.

A hush fell over Hartree Mill as the ball soared wide, and the referee blew for full time.