Visitors spring back into action as they show Moffat who’s boss
Craig Ritchie After a well- earned break, Bishopton were back to their best for the first game of 2018.
The early morning frost was enough to give everyone the chills, but action on the field heated up as the Renfrewshire side stormed to victory at Moffat.
The visitors got off to a strong start as they gained some early yards, although they came up short with the first penalty of the clash.
They regrouped and were able to reshape and kick back up the field, carefully building phases in order to find the weaknesses in the Rams’ defence.
This was soon found by centre Harry Seymour, who burst onto the ball at blistering pace and looked like he was going to be able to run the ball in himself.
With just the full-back to contend with, he spun the ball out to the returning Sandy Glassford, who was able to dive into the corner at top speed to secure a first try of the season. The wide conversion attempt was no match for the wind.
Bishopton, again, seized possession with some good defence and broke up the park after the restart.
A chip over the top soon came and the Bish were able to collect the ball with the blistering pace of Euan Keltie, who presented it for scrum half Ruari Taylor. But the top try scorer would have to wait as he was tackled.
The team’s second top try scorer, Ryan Moore, was the first man on the scene and was able to gather the pop and make the final five metres to the line, securing his 10th of the season.
Moffat, once again, came back out of the gates looking to restore some of the deficit and their efforts were not in vain as they were able to claim the penalty and slot it over, bringing them back with a converted score to make it 10-3.
But it was now the Bish’s turn to return fire and they did it in fine form, with Seymour finding several more gaps in the Moffat defence thanks to his solid running. After two hard runs, his third off the back of a scrum proved fruitful as there was no-one left near him and he was able to walk across the line and place it down under the posts, allowing for Max Catto to have the easy kick and extending the team’s lead to 3-17.
A try for the hosts shortly before half-time narrowed the scoreline, but Bishopton remained in control.
They cranked up the pressure, with several attempts at powering over the line from close range. But it was left to Bob Moore to make it 24-10.
Bish were soon back up to within five of the line and there were several more close calls to have the ball go down. One of the more closely called was when Keltie received the ball and powered his way forward, fighting off at least two players before he was brought down shy of the line.
Catto tagged on another penalty as the scoreline continued to increase, with a 27-10 margin seeing Bishopton in control.
The day ended on a high note as Glassford made a trademark burst off, receiving the high kick in the back field and quickly making his way up the wing, allowing winger Iain Kerr to cut inside and burst up the line into the five meters.
The scrum was awarded to the Bish and the pack decided that five metres was not close enough and walked over to less than a metre to the line. Taylor keenly spotted a gap and threw himself towards it, getting his own try for the day and extending his points total, securing them another bonus point win and keeping them in the hunt for the league title.