Rugby: Biggar take fourth place in Scottish Hydro Premier 2

Mar 11 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

BIGGAR Rugby Club pulled themselves up into fourth spot in the Scottish Hydro Premier 2 table with a super 10-3 derby win over Gala.

With a game in hand, a third-placed finish by the end of the season isn’t beyond the Hartreemill side.

The first half was largely even with Gala eventually breaking the deadlock in 30 minutes thanks to a Graham Speirs penalty.

Biggar fought back and in a training ground move Simeon James swept blind to feed Scott Watson, who cruised through to score under the posts for a try.

Chris McKeand converted for 7-3.

The second half was something of a scrappy affair with several fouls conceded by those sides.

Biggar fell foul of the referee more often, but Gala couldn’t take advantage.

Speirs missed a kickable penalty before Chris McKeand took Biggar ahead by 10-3 midway through the half.

The same player might have put Biggar out of sight on 30 minutes but his kick slid wide, giving Gala hope that a converted try would tie the scores.

Try as they did they couldn’t cross the line and had to settle instead for a losing bonus point.

The frustration at that was apparent when lock Euan Dods let fly with a verbal outburst and he was immediately shown a red card by the referee.