Glasgow Accies 10

Biggar 26

Al Stewart

at New Anniesland

DAD'S the word in Biggar these days.

Alan Warnock and Conor Lavery both became fathers for the first time last week.

And they both scored tries on Saturday as Biggar recorded their 16th victory of the season to remain top of the table.

Conditions on the way to Glasgow were poor with relentless rain falling, but happily the Accies pitch remained in excellent condition, especially when the rain stopped just after the match kicked off.

An early passage of play saw Biggar camped on the Accies line. A break by Bogle almost resulted in a try but the cover defence was across in the nick of time to barge him into touch.

Pressure continued and Lavery glided through the Accies defence to score the opening try. Matthew Stewart’s conversion took the score to 7-0 with just five minutes on the clock.

But, in what was virtually their first visit to the Biggar 22, Accies struck back with a nicely angled run catching the defence flat-footed and allowing winger Chris Woods to cross in the corner.

The conversion was short but at 7-5 it was game on.

With a half hour gone Biggar engineered a try for winger Ross Bradford.

Ball from the scrum was moved to the blindside and following a searing break by Orr, the fullback popped the ball to Bradford who made short work to cross for a try converted by Stewart for 14-5.

Try as they did and despite several further promising positions Biggar were unable to add to their tally before half time.

A huge defensive set of plays at the start of the second half was applauded by the large Biggar support and this must have set Accies back.

Donald Voas, Mulligan, Sanderson and Dinnen were all to the fore in this area.

A few minutes later Orr latched onto a kick ahead by Conor Lavery and seemed to gain a touchdown but the referee signalled for a knock on and it was chalked off.

And Accies nabbed their second try a short time later with centre Gregor McEwan picking up a loose pass from Lavery to Stewart to romp home from some 60 metres.

Again however, and crucially, there was no conversion but Biggar’s lead was cut to 14-10.

Eventually normal service was resumed as Biggar put their hosts under real pressure via a series of plays with Voas, Kelly, Jackson and Robbie Orr all handling well.

A pick and go from Conor Lavery created some space and his offload found Warnock in support, the lock spinning out of a couple of tackles to crash over for Biggar’s third score. Euan Bogle added the conversion for 21-10.

Bonus points have been a fairly regular occurrence this season and this match was no exception although it took the side a whole lot longer to claim it.

A sustained period of pressure which saw runner after runner ensured that Accies were restricted to defensive chores in their own 22.

A series of pick and goes and some darting runs by among others Renwick and Bradford took play to within a couple of metres, and Ryan Moffat drove over for try number four. Bogle was just wide with the conversion.

The final whistle came with Biggar taking the win by 26-10.

Biggar: R. Orr, R. Bradford, M. Stewart, R. Stewart, E. Bogle, C. Lavery, R. Lavery, D. Voas, C. Mulligan, F. Carossi, D. Dinnen, A. Warnock, J. Orr, E. Sanderson & R. Jackson. Reps: G. Kelly, A. Peacock, R. Moffat & I. Renwick