DEMOLITION DERBY

Paisley Pyros 30 GCU Roughriders 0
(Abandoned at 3rd Quarter)

Pic Gavin Newlands

The lights went out on an eventful Renfrewshire derby at the weekend where Paisley Pyros stormed to their third successive win of the season which would have been an even more convincing score line except that poor light ended the match early in the third quarter.

For a side that had spent the first few seasons, propping up the British College League Scottish Conference, this was a Paisley Pyros side that during the first few weeks of the season have been re rewriting the form books having yet to drop a game.

And after racking up 30 unanswered points against the Roughriders in a game that was cut short due to poor light, the Pyros, after a few weeks into the new season have now turned in their best ever start to a campaign in their short history and are now in a strong position for their first ever Scottish title.

Previous encounters between the two sides have always been strong hard fought battles with the Roughriders always coming out on top.

And even though the Pyros were full of confidence this season, the Roughriders needed to bounce back from their disappointing result against Napier Mavericks the week before; the scene was set for another demolition derby!

Thankfully the Pyro's home ground at Robertson's Sport Centre, had escaped the severe cold snap that had been predicted around many areas of the country, but the temperatures were low enough to make any nearby brass monkey wince in discomfort.

And after an uneventful opening Cally drive Paisley made their mark on the game with their first series which ended with Kieran Phillips powered through from a few yards out for the opening touchdown, which he followed up with a successful two point conversion to make it 8-0 for the Pyros.

Cally stepped up a gear on their next drive when a well worked reverse move resulted in (81 - Name to be confirmed) take the ball down to the Paisley 28 yard line.

But the momentum soon swung back in the home side's favour when the Pyros rearguard pounced on a poor snap and recover the ball on their own 18 yard line.

The visiting side regrouped and appeared to have their rivals on the back foot when they forced a Paisley fumble which was recovered 8 yards from the Paisley goal line.

However the men in white could not punish the turnover and blew the advantage when a pass into the corner of the endzone which was picked off by Mick Rankin.

The Pyros continued to rise in confidence at the start of the second quarter when quarterback Lewis Cameron, was picked off by Chris Lang, taking the ball back 28 yards for a touchdown.

Philips then added the 2 point conversion in a commanding 16-0 lead.

As the game progressed, the Pyros defense continued to control the Cally offense, with their quarterback enduring a torrid time through lack of protection from the offensive line.

And with no change in the scoring, the game took a dramatic turn for the worse, when as Cally were desperately trying to get back into the game, one of the receivers went down in a heap following a crunching tackle, resulting in a nasty knee injury that meant that the half time break came early as the unfortunate player was taken to hospital.

With no ambulance available players from both team's decided to take an extended half time break in the dressing rooms, whilst certain members of the public, (yours truly and a few others ) stayed outside and brave the elements as Mother Nature decided to turn down the thermostat.

It felt like an eternity waiting for the ambulance to arrive and as the light was starting to disappear, one was starting to ponder the prospect of whether the game would ever resume.

Eventually both teams came out to resume their battle and surprisingly the refs decided to carry on from where they left off and decided to play the remaining few minutes of the second quarter and then going straight into the third.

With the threat of this game not reaching the end, the Roughriders were struggling to get back into the game, but the Pyros continued where they left off.

And the stretched their lead when a great run from Tal Peer added another touchdown, which was converted once again by Phillips to make it 24-0 for the Pyros.

The Pyros continued to wear the opposition down, with the Cally quarterback continuing to eat the Paisley turf and coughed up another fumble which was recovered by Paisley .

Two plays later the home side extended their lead when Phillips ran in another six points.

And despite controlling the match, the Pyros had no control over mother nature as the light continued to fade even more and finally common sense prevailed and the game was stopped five minutes into the third quarter.