Buddies hit home full year of wins
Great start to the season
Craig Ritchie Paisley made it a year unbeaten at home with a thumping victory over Birkmyre on the season’s opening day.
Resplendent in their new City of Culture Bid inspired kit, Paisley were pretty good in pink as they gave the Kilmacolm side no chance.
Fourteen tries and numerous conversions set Paisley on their way to the top of the BT West Division 2 table.
James Murchie got the ball rolling early on as he crossed the line for the afternoon’s first try.
A Birkmyre penalty quickly pegged the scores back to 5-3 in favour of the hosts, but it was simply a stay of execution for Birkmyre as the floodgates quickly opened and Paisley raced clear.
Grant Berry was next to add five points to the scoreboard, with Martin McKellar missing his second conversion of the afternoon.
Some fine play between the Paisley forwards then carved open the Birkmyre backline and the ball was eventually played out to Colin McKay on the wing.
Some clever footwork would see him outfox the defence as he crossed the line.
McKellar was this time on hand to add the conversion to take the score to 17-3.
Berry then converted his own try as the score increased to 24-3, before a converted try from Birkmyre on the stroke of half time saw the sides go in at 24-10 at the interval.
Second half was simply one-way traffic as the Buddies roared out of the traps, with captain Ben Frost getting the play’s first try, converted by Berry, before Ben van Eysen’s quick-thinking with a quick tap made it 38-10, with another Berry conversion.
Aaron Graham was next to add a try, with Berry’s fine kicking continuing, before the second row’s John MacLellan went over underneath the posts to give replacement Euan Stuart an easy kick to make it 52-10.
Birkmyre were just unable to handle the hosts as the scores kept on coming, with van Eysen and Michael Somerville next to capitalise on the Birkmyre’s collapse.
Shaun Brittain took advantage of some slack passing by scoring off of an interception.
Another interception from replacement Allan Berry made it 76-10 in the wake of another Stuart conversion.
And late scores from Murchie and Graham rounded off the mammoth scoreline as Paisley start the season on fire.
A club spokesman added: “We showed some great rugby and really performed in front of a good crowd at The Anchor.
“The win has set a marker down for the season and shows that we mean business in our quest to win the league.”
This week sees Paisley take on Clydebank away from home on Saturday, with a 3pm kick off.