A TENACIOUS performance from the Ardrossan Academicals RFC 2nd XV saw them fight their way back from a 13-point deficit to beat Cartha RFC 3rd XV away from homeT.

The gutsy display from the Accies was all the more impressive as they faced their opposition with one less player from the off. The bonus point win, sees the team continue their unrelenting campaign for promotion this season, and with three games in hand to their top-of-the-table rivals Marr, a league victory beckons.

The Accies gallantly took on their Glasgow opposition with a player less and with several playing out of position. Receiving the kick off they were quickly to the fore, pressing Cartha back to their own line thanks to thundering runs from Tony Finnegan. Elliot Gibson was extremely unlucky to have the first try of the game disallowed following continual bombardment of the Cartha try line.

After ten minutes of attrition it was the home team who managed to score points first following a rare foray into Accies territory, their wily outside half slotting over a drop goal.

This prompted another Accies assault on the opposition, much in the preceding manner. Hard running from Finnegan was followed by Captain Calum Wilson making multiple probing breaks into the defence. However, it was young Ruairidh Grayston, drafted up from the under eighteen squad who jinked through the flailing arms of the Cartha tacklers then sped through to score under the bizarrely shaped posts of the Drumbeck Road ground. It was a superb effort from the promising outside centre.

The remainder of the first half saw some tidal phases of play from both sides. Cartha dominated the set piece and were extremely competitive in the breakdown thanks to their heavy, experienced forward pack. Fearless and ferocious tackling from Captain Wilson and hooker Karl Macrae typified the effort the Ardrossan men were prepared to make for the badge on their shirts. Nonetheless, their try line was breached after a series of tap and go penalties from Cartha. With the conversion missed, the half time whistle blew and it was all to play for in the second half.

Unfortunately for the Accies the second period began in the worst possible fashion when they conceded a try within two minutes. It came after a strong and clinical lineout drive from Cartha. At 13-7 down, with one man less, it was tiring work for the away team despite the intensity and passion evident in their game. No one typified this more than Rodger Sutherland, who put in hit after hit in defence and ran back at the opposition twice as hard again. Much to their frustration, disaster befell the Accies again, as they conceded a try under the posts following prolonged close quarter pressure from the home team. At 20-7 it was looking bleak for the brave 14 men of Ardrossan.

But, it was at that point the Accies decided to tear up the script and fight back harder than they had at any point in this long season. Jamie Monaghan, usually a back rower but filling in at scrum half changed the tactics and started to feed outside half Wilson on the blindside, looking to exploit the space. With the club's fastest player and prolific try scorer: Duncan McGregor brought forward to centre, suddenly the gaps appeared for the Accies. McGregor in his typical dazzling style, raced through five defenders from seventy metres out, to score a momentum-changing, spirit-lifting try that turned the game on its head. Suddenly the Accies were at full throttle and hungry to smash into the opposition. At the breakdown Paul Fitzsimmons metamorphasised into the hard-edged enforcer the team needed, Ian Lamont chop tackled anything in a Cartha Shirt; all of a sudden it was game on.

Another teenage recruit: Ali Grant became try scorer and hero of the Ardrssan club following a chip and chase move involving is under-eighteen teammate Grayston.

With 20 minutes to go, the Accies were 20-17 down, but with the bit firmly between their teeth as they redoubled their efforts in hope of a win. With Stewart Kelt making inroads on one wing it was up to new player Greg Walton to do the same on the other. In his first game for the club the Northern Irishman excelled with running and kicking game, coming very close to a debut score. However, it was the hard-tacking hooker Karl Macrae who crossed next after taking quick ball from a sweetly won Lamont lineout. The aggressive, muscular Macrea, pumped his legs through the first two tackles then outpaced the vain efforts of numbers three and four to notch up a bonus point-earning, lead-taking try, much to the delight of his team mates. Ten minutes and three point advantage was all that separated the Accies from an unlikely but well earned win.

Except that there was more to come from the Ardrossan men.

Having clawed their way back from a compromising position, they sought to rub salt in the wounds of their numerically advantage opposition by scoring a fifth try.

Jamie Monaghan came close after bursting through several tackles after a break from the base of a scrum. Calum Wilson, like Macrae was having his finest game for the club, moved the ball closer to the home line. T he try finally came when big Rodger Sutherland ran the perfect angle, at breakneck speed, calling for the pass off Monaghan to part the Catha defence like the red sea and plough over for a peach of a try. At 20-29 there was time for one more score from the home side on the stroke of full time to see Ardrossan finish victorious at 27-29.

Again, the nature of the victory shouldn't be underestimated. For 14 men, many out of position, to beat 15 with an additional rolling set of substitutes is testament to how hard the players worked for each other and their club. Congratulations were in order.