Bishopton Rugby kicked off their 2022 in stunning fashion with an emphatic win on the road against Loch Lomond.
Three weeks of hard and meticulous training over the winter break paid off as the Holmpark side put the hosts to the sword.
Bishopton captain Max Catto kicked things off at the visitors quickly found themselves with a line-out just outside their own 22.
After safely sealing possession, the ball was efficiently passed across the back line before reaching Cameron Richardson who was able to burn up the outside to touch down for the try.
Catto’s conversion from out wide was short of the posts and left Bish with a narrow lead early in the game.
This was soon followed with a Bishopton penalty as Lomond were caught offside at the breakdown, giving Catto a more central shot at goal and he duly delivered by splitting the posts.
Loch Lomond started to look like they were going to make a comeback midway through the half as they slowly but surely started to push Bish back towards their own line, with their experienced and heavy hitting forwards taking the game to the Bish defence.
Their patience of slowly chipping away looked as if it was about to bare fruit as they gained a penalty inside the Bish 22.
Disaster struck though as a poor kick saw the ball miss touch and sail dead through the goal area, bringing the play back to the 22 for a Bishopton scrum.
Bishopton held the scrum and secured the ball and send it to the backs, the ball reached full-back Findlay Douglass who was able to broke through the defensive line.
He covered a full 50 metres before getting a pass off to Cameron Hunter, who sprinted in under the posts unopposed for the score leaving an easy conversion for Catto to push Bish to a 0 -15 half-time lead.
The second half was very much a different story as Lomond were able to put the pressure on Bishopton, forcing them into multiple scrums, opting for them when they gained a penalty rather than kick for the corner or posts.
A change in the tide came with 10 minutes to play and a flurry of substitutions in the front row of the Bishopton pack. With the scrum secured Bish were able to push back up the field which resulted in Lomond knocking the ball loose.
Bruce Abernethy was the first to pounce on it, before quickly scrambling back to his feet to charge forward. He pitched the ball to Sandy Glassford, who ran the ball in unopposed. Catto’s conversion drifted wide of the mark, keeping the score at 0-20.
The final score of the day came again from Bish securing at the ruck and setting up on the blind side, with Peter Duncan receiving the ball from Glassford and quickly moving it on to Ross McGowan.
He broke though the Lomond defence before getting it wide to Hunter who was able to run the ball in with pace to avoid the remaining defenders and touch down between the posts.
Catto sealed the win with yet another successful kick to take the final score to 0-27. in Bishoptons favor.
