Clydebank Rugby Football Club got back to winning ways at the weekend with a battling 27-10 victory over Paisley RFC in testing conditions.
Looking to put last week’s heavy 60-5 loss away to Cumnock RFC firmly behind them, the Bankies first XV welcomed Paisley to the Community Sport Hub on Saturday afternoon.
Clydebank Titans youngster Ryan Kerr led the team out in what turned out to be an edgy fixture.
With the wind at their backs, Clydebank struggled to get out of their own half in the early stages with clearance kicks providing no respite.
With the strong winds, this was a common theme for the first 25 minutes of the match until full-back Jack McCombe made the breakthrough with a scintillating run after a clever offload by winger Jack Johnston.
However, the visitors quickly replied with an unconverted try of their own to level proceedings.With a number of unforced errors and a couple of strange calls from the referee, the anticipated struggle seemed likely until the hosts found a spark with two quickfire tries.
Calum Smith’s bulldozing run restored Clydebank’s lead before centre Finlay Ross Valentine extended their lead further to put the home side in a seemingly comfortable position.
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Paisley were quick to hit back once again, however, finding a try from nowhere moments before the half-time whistle to give them hope the comeback was on.
Paisley began the second-half strongly as they looked for a way back into it, but the Bankies were happy to soak up the pressure with the wind in their faces.
Beginning to show their dominance, Clydebank slowly but surely moved up the pitch into the Paisley half with a number of strong phases.
This possession saw the home side put together some lovely passing play that Paisley simply could not cope with.
With two more tries from McCombe and Johnstone, Bankies raced into an unassailable lead to clinch the win and the bonus point.
With no match this weekend, Clydebank’s first XV are next in action on February 15 when they travel to take on Waysiders/Drumpellier.
Elsewhere, Clydebank’s S1 and S2 side travelled away to Cumbernauld on Sunday afternoon with the sides playing out a 10-10 draw.
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