Buddies finish season on a high
Paisley show no mercy to Uddingston
Craig Ritchie
Paisley Rugby Club rounded off their season in fine fashion thanks to a thumping victory at home to Uddingston.
Although Gordon Powrie’s side missed out on the BT West Division Two title and promotion, the Buddies will be proud of their efforts over the course of an otherwise successful season for the side from The Anchor.
Keen to finish the campaign on a high in front of their own support, Paisley came roaring out of the traps as Ryan McCready crashed through under the posts to force home the hosts’ first score of the afternoon.
Martin McKellar ably tagged on the conversion to make it 7-0.
And from the off it looked as though it was going to be nothing less than a comprehensive victory for Paisley as Aaron Graham chose to go it alone instead of passing to skipper Ben Frost before touching under the posts.
Again McKellar was on hand to make conversion count to make it 14-0.
McKellar then turned try scorer, intercepting a pass before racing clear of the Uddingston defence and touching down for his side’s third try of the afternoon.
He, then again, did the honours as Paisley took the score to 21-0.
Persistent infringing from Uddingston in front of posts then handed Paisley a penalty try which was again duly converted, before Graham crossed the whitewash for his second try of the afternoon with McKellar missing the resulting conversion.
With the bonus point already confirmed before half- time there was simply going to be no stopping Paisley.
They refused to take their foot off of the gas in the second half as they looked to hammer home their superiority over their rivals.
Another converted penalty try for a foul on Cameron Cobb quickly took the score to 40-0, before James Murchie’s effort took the score to 47- 0 following yet another McKellar conversion.
Replacement David McKelvie soon broke from the back for a try of his own. He then turned provider for skipper Frost, allowing the captain to help the scoreboard to continue to tick over as the score hit 61-0.
Graham’s hat-trick was then completed thanks to a neat assist from Paddy O’Donnell, and although McKellar missed the kick the tries kept on coming.
McKelvie made it a double for himself, as did McKellar with yet another try of his own despite his kicking responsibilities.
But it was perhaps fitting that the final score on a simply flawless day went to Graham as he made it four trys for the day as he rounded off the scoring at 87-0.