Helensburgh win their relegation battle

Apr 23 2008 Lennox Herald

HELENSBURGH won their battle with relegation on Saturday — and proved they are worthy of their place in the national leagues.

The home side endured a season long tussle to avoid the drop and it might not have been a glorious victory, but having lost a massive 41 points to Lasswade last time the sides met, the draw was just as sweet for Helensburgh.

Coach Liam McIntyre admitted to being sick with nerves knowing that a seven point loss would see them relegated, but his players appeared composed as they strode out at Ardencaple.

The fixture itself was packed full of incident, with Burgh quickly on the front foot as Blair Somerville and Sean McNee came to the fore in the early exchanges while Chris Black, Ally Cairns and Mark Tyson sought to exploit any gap in the Lasswade midfield.

After 20 minutes, Lasswade went offside giving Chris Black the chance to step up but his penalty sailed wide. The Burgh stand-off was at the heart of the best try-scoring chance of the first half but although his long pass found Josh Rettie, the youngster was just short of the line.

With both sides scoring 10 in the second half, it was true end-to-end drama.

Johnny Gibson soared to steal Lasswade’s touchline ball, leaving Burgh to capitalise as Walker broke off a scrum on the Lasswade 10 metre line, going blindside.

Riding fed Rettie on the 22 where the rocket-heeled winger screeched round to slam down under the posts, then Black converted.

Lasswade countered and while stout defence by the Burgh back-row kept them at bay, a fine move created space for their right winger to score.

The conversion hit the bar and stayed out and Black’s drop goal from 45 metres bolstered Burgh’s belief that they could take something from the match.

But Lasswade staged a comeback with a muscular rolling maul, driven over the left corner in the dying minutes had the hosts stunned — but the conversion again drifted wide, allowing Burgh a rare opportunity to celebrate.

Helensburgh: Tyson, Rogers, Cairns, Riding, Black, Rettie, Walker, McInroy, McNee, Gard, Calderwood, Gibson, Sloan, Somerville, Watt.

Subs: Hodgson, Holmes, Sterry.