Ardrossan – 10
Bishopton/Cumbernauld – 34
Sunday 8th March will go down as a key moment in the history of Bishopton Rugby Club as their new ladies team recorded their first official victory, against a strong Ardrossan team. The winning side, captained by Brooke Martin, is a joint venture with Cumbernauld ladies for the duration of the Scottish National Bowl competition. This was the third and last game in the pool stages, after matches against Hamilton and Stornoway both went the way of the more experienced sides.
The joint Bishopton Cumbernauld team, or Bishernauld as they have come to be known, made a strong start down at Ardossan’s Memorial Park with a high tackle on Alessia Williams on the try line resulting in a penalty try to the visitors. The home team retaliated with a solid try after winning two penalties in succession, then followed up with another try from a quick and low lineout to put the scoreline in Ardrossan’s favour for the first and only time. Not to be discouraged, Bishernauld retaliated with a robust push over the line from Vanessa Reid-Phelps putting the score back to 10-12.
Next saw a blistering try which had the supporters in awe of far the ladies have grown in confidence and ability: Bishernauld managed a turnover on our 5 metre line and moved it wide to Katharine Ross who broke all the way to the opposition’s 22 before she could be caught, offloading neatly to Megan Cassidy who ran the ball into the corner taking the score to 10-17.
The score remained at 10-17 at half time with Bishernauld making only one change to a strong side. A head injury for Monica Marshall in the second half unfortunately put her off the pitch after a superb performance at the back. The home side’s advances were being consistently stopped by Beth MacLeod’s fast tackling and Kirstie Brownlie next came close to scoring from a mighty scrum effort. However it was Ashley Campbell who now charged up the middle of the pitch knocking opposition sideways to take the ball all the way to the try line; she was finally stopped but some strong rucking from the visitors ensured Brooke Martin could land the ball home for their fourth try of the game.
At this point Ardrossan received a red card when a punch was thrown putting them down to 14, this then lead to another try from Vanessa Reid-Phelps took the quick tap from close range to push over the line. Alessia Williams calmly pushed over the line for a 6th and final try after yet another huge run from Ashley Campbell, earning Ashley a well-deserved Crabbies’ Alcoholic Ginger Beer Player of the Match. The last conversion was good: full time Ardossan 10, Bishopton/Cumbernauld 34.
The Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer Glue Player of the Match award was awarded in joint fashion this week. In Scoring two tries along with some excellent kicking earned Vanessa Reid-Phelps along with the consistent tackling and strong runs made Katharine Ross the second receiver of the award.
Strong scrums throughout, good communication and quick offloads allowed this developing side to truly stretch their rugby legs for the first time. Bishernauld have only trained together for 7 weeks and had 3 games together, and the development has been visible to all in such a short time. Thanks go to Ardrossan for their hospitality and friendliness, with a friendly rematch being planned for the summer months. Bishopton Ladies have open training sessions every Monday and Thursday nights where all are welcome whether you are looking for fitness, social rugby or to play competitively – see the club Facebook page or website for more details.
