TIGERS GET A ROUGHRIDE

BUT STILL COME OUT ON TOP

GLASGOW TIGERS 21 CALEDONIA ROUGHRIDERS 20

There was a time where this would have been a fixture you could have put your mortgage on – if you had one, in terms of predicting a sure fire victory for the Tigers – NOT ANY MORE!

In what used to be recognised as gridiron’s equivalent of the Auld Firm, the Tigers had been the dominant force during their previous three encounters against the Roughriders having clocked up 191 points without reply.

And they were in no doubt clear favourites in what was an eagerly awaited fixture in the Scottish Gridiron calendar.

But today the Tigers held on to their unbeaten record over their Glasgow University neighbours by the skin of their teeth edging out a battling Roughriders side.

The home side got off to the perfect start through Ian Hay but they had to wait till the third quarter to stretch their lead when Ronald Gaffin added a second score.

But Glasgow gave Cally hopes of a comeback when an interception return from Ross Graham got them off the mark.

The Tigers appeared to have regained control when Grant McCauslan hit the endzone again for the Men in Black.

But instead of trying to play for pride, the Roughriders hit back in the fourth quarter and came close to memorable victory when Graham added his second touchdown, with Paul Docherty bringing the Roughriders to within one point.

Unfortunately despite a spirited performance, the Roughriders missed out on going in front for the first time when they failed to connect on the conversion attempt.

Despite holding on to their position at the top of the table, the result showed that the Tigers still have a lot of work to do if they are to match the achievements of last year.

However it would much more appropriate to forget about the long term and just focus on the contributions from both teams to what was a dramatic afternoon of football.

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