Biggar close in on league title victory
GLASGOW ACADEMICALS ..... 10 BIGGAR ........................................ 26 Biggar took a step closer to the Tennent’s National League 2 title with a 26-10 win at Glasgow Academicals.
It would take something of a collapse now for Biggar to be denied the trophy, having picked up their 17th win from 18 games.
Uncharacteristically, handling errors crept into Biggar’s game, while Accies put in a strong defence to repel several Biggar attacks.
Biggar were frequently frustrated, and some tight calls meant they had to wait until the fourth quarter before they were secure with the win and the four-try bonus.
Euan Bogle and Matthew Stewart went close, but that pressure paid off when Conor Lavery glided through the defence to score the opening try. Matthew Stewart’s conversion took the score to 7-0 with just five minutes on the clock.
Undeterred, Accies opened up strongly off the restart, with their backs using ball well and their pace and angled runs putting Biggar under a good deal of pressure.
In what was virtually their first visit to the Biggar 22, Accies struck; a nicely-angled run caught the defence flat-footed and winger Chris Woods crossed in the corner, and although the conversion was short, at 7-5 it was very much‘game on’.
Coming back in reply, Ross Bradford and Rowan Stewart made some good yards before Jamie Orr gained a good field possession with a neat kick to the corner.
A squint throw gave Biggar a scrum and with a surge to the line from the scrum, it appeared that Euan Sanderson had got the touchdown, but the referee was unsighted and therefore unable to award the score.
With half an hour gone, Biggar engineered a try for winger Ross Bradford, who made short work of the space to cross for a try, which Stewart converted for 14-5.
Despite several further promising positions, Biggar were unable to add to their first-half tally.
Biggar thought they had stretched their lead when Orr latched onto a kick ahead by Conor Lavery and seemed to get the touchdown, but the referee signalled a knock-on and it was chalked off.
The visitors continued to put pressure on Accies, but couldn’t force their way through and Glasgow centre Gregor Mcewan grabbed their second try, cutting the score line to 14-10.
Biggar benefited from better decision-making, and they put some real pressure on Accies through Donald Voas, Guy Kelly, Ross Jackson and Robbie Orr.
A pick and go from Conor Lavery created some space and his offload found Alan Warnock in support, the lock spinning out of a couple of tackles to crash over, with Euan Bogle converting for 21-10.
Runner after runner attacking the Accies line during a sustained period of pressure meant the hosts were restricted to defence, and eventually Ryan Moffat picked up and dived over for try number four and the 26-10 win.
Elsewhere, defeats to Highland and Stewart’s Melville were the best possible results from a Biggar point of view, with only Highland and Dumfries now able to catch Biggar.
To do that, Biggar would have to lose all four of their remaining games, while their opponents would need to win all theirs by five-point bonus winning scores.
While it is still arithmetically possible for that to happen, and until it is firmly beyond doubt, Biggar will focus only on the next game ahead, which is at home to Lasswade on March 2.