HELENSBURGH secured an 8-6 victory away to Bishopton on Saturday after bouncing back from their heavy defeat to Lenzie the week before.

In perfect conditions, the Grizzlies kicked off and Bishopton drove back to the halfway line.

A penalty then saw the home side kick to Burgh’s 22 and from the lineout another infraction by Helensburgh gave the home side a penalty to take the score to 3–0 after three minutes.

From the restart, Burgh pushed hard into the opposition 22 where full back Nick Fish ran the ball close to the line before passing to hooker Mark Ashdown, who then drove within 10 metres of the line.

From the ruck, captain Cammy Kerr picked up and drove over the line only to be held up by strong Bishopton defence. From the resulting scrum, a penalty awarded to Helensburgh let winger Reece Court tie the scores at 3–3 with 14 minutes played.

Both teams were defending well, but after more sustained Burgh pressure in Bishopton’s 22, the home side stole the ball, kicking to the half way line. Another penalty then saw the home team kick for the posts to make it 6–3 with 37 minutes played.

The second half saw the Grizzlies camped inside the Bishopton half, but small errors were thwarting their attacks. Bishopton were quick to capitalise on the mistakes and only fantastic defence by centres Mark Robertson and Callum O’Brien prevented the home backs from breaking through.

Flanker Sam King was then at the centre of the action, pressurising the Bishopton stand-off and tackling anything that came towards him. It was on 60 minutes when a fantastic break by King on the halfway line saw him screaming down the touch line, supported by his fellow flanker Connor Simmons, who took the ball to within 10 metres of the line. Quick recycling allowed Mark Robertson to crash over the line for the first try of the game, and though unconverted it was 6–8 to the visitors.

The last quarter of the game was nail biting for both sets of supporters but Helensburgh were again making mistakes deep inside Bishopton’s half, costing them dearly as Bishopton managed to take full advantage and return the pressure back into Burgh’s half.

This resulted in another penalty for Bishopton on the 65th minute mark inside Helensburgh’s 22 but this time their attempt at three points was narrowly missed to great relief from the travelling support.

However, Burgh then showed fantastic maturity for such a young side and for the last 15 minutes played the game out preventing any more mistakes with tight play within the Burgh pack.

The game finished at 6–8 giving Helensburgh a much deserved four points in a well-mannered game with great rugby from both sides.

Skipper Cammy Kerr said: “We were desperate to bounce back and the boys were up for it from the start. We started with a great intensity which we kept up all game. 8-6 sounds tight but we dominated territory and possession. They only ever got into our 22 from us conceding penalties.We definitely should have had more tries but just couldn’t get over the line or get the final pass to hand.”

Next game for Burgh is at home to Uddingston this Saturday with kick off at 3pm.