Helensburgh Rugby Club's first XV produced a dramatic comeback on Saturday to pick up their first win of the season, beating Irvine 45-38 at Marress.

The Burgh trailed 38-31 with five minutes to go, but tries from Matthew Holland and Craig Bowman touched down to give the visitors victory.

And earlier scores from Kane Greggain, David Sterry, Kyle Stevenson, Mike Linzee-Gordon and Kris Owens meant the Grizzlies walked away with a try bonus point as well.

Coach Adam Hart said: “It was a topsy-turvy game but I imagine if you were a neutral, you would have quite enjoyed it. If you were associated with both clubs, it was a bit of a nail-biter.

“All the forwards left nothing on the pitch, and it showed when we scored the two tries in the last few minutes.

“It’s a great result after we threw away a nine-point lead last week.”

Helensburgh: Stevenson, Rogers, Owens, Holland, Alton, Linzee-Gordon, Sterry; Taylor, Goupillot, Oberholzer, Higgins, Inglis, Gibson, Macdonald, Greggain. Subs: Feltham, Gosse, Bowman, Sterry.

* For the full match report, and more of Adam Hart's post-match thoughts, don't miss the September 22 issue of the Helensburgh Advertiser.