Biggar 55

Hillhead Jordanhill 7

Al Stewart at Hartree Mill

BIGGAR broke their recent losing run with a comprehensive 55-7 win over bottom of the table Hillhead Jordanhill.

Given that the Glasgow side have not managed a win this season there was some confidence amongst the Biggar squad.

Indeed the score could as easily have been nearer 80 such were the number of chances created and which then fell foul as passes were dropped or defence stood up to the Biggar runners.

Add to that the missed conversions from Aird Jardine who had a mixed day with the boot, kicking five from nine, and it is easy to see how the total could have been exceeded.

There were several cases where white-line fever took over and players went for the line rather than looking to move the ball to the unmarked supporting team mate.

This was not surprising perhaps given the recent dearth of wins but players will surely recognise that such largesse will not lead to wins in their next games as the opposition will prove far more secure.

Biggar made only a few changes to the XV which should have taken to the field last week against West. David Reive was unavailable for this match and his place was taken by David McArthur who, despite the attentions of the wiry Ross Thomson showed some really nice touches throughout including one great burst through the middle in the second half.

McArthur’s place on the wing went to Alisdair Sinclair who made a return after missing the Aberdeenshire match.

On the bench there was a spot for Duncan Withers who has been out for several weeks following an appendicitis. He started for the 2nds and then came into the 1st XV match after half time. He seems to have lost little in his lay off as he picked up a nice score for the 2nds and contributed positively for the 1sts.

Having sewn up the four try bonus point in the first half Biggar allowed Hill Jills back into the match just before half time – and when ironically the Glasgow side were down to 14 men – when a score was conceded under the posts to James Lowry. Rory Harte kicked the conversion.

After the break Biggar continued in similar form scoring another five tries to secure the 55 point total.

There were several highlights on the day with great carries from Jamie Orr, Andrew Orr, Ewan Stewart and Ross Jackson, the last named romping home from some 60 metres after ball was plundered from a Hill Jills attack (check Nigel’s picks on the website for a cracking frame-by-frame sequence of much of this run). This effort and several other telling contributions in both attack and defence earned the breakaway the Biggar man-of-the-match award. The Hill Jills winner was Wallace Nelson.

Aird Jardine again showed some deft touches with the boot which kept the Hill Jills defence in check while Robbie Lavery made some telling bursts, one of which led to a try for himself and a later effort which saw his offload taken by Sinclair for a try. David Paterson looked full of running and probably should have had more than one score while one well-timed cover tackle saved what would have been a certain score.

For the record, tries were scored by Ewan Sanderson (2), Alisdair Sinclair (2), Andrew Dunlop, Ross Jackson, David Paterson, Robbie Lavery and Aird Jardine.

Biggar: Thomas Steele, Alisdair Sinclair, Craig McDonald, Robbie Lavery, David Paterson, Aird Jardine, David McArthur, Donald Voas, Ewan Stewart, Dan O’Connell, Jamie Orr, Zander Lyon, Ewan Sanderson, Andrew Dunlop, Ross Jackson. Reps: Calvin Henderson, Andrew Orr, Douglas Notman, Duncan Withers.