West Region Rugby - Scotland: West 2 Update

Lenzie continued their unbeaten run on Saturday with a rather impressive 99 nil victory over Helensburgh. Second placed Oban Lorne also had a bonus point win, 36 - 11 at Bishopton, but at 11 points behind, and only three games remaining for Oban, a bonus point win for Lenzie away at Strathaven on Saturday will clinch them the West 2 Championship title.

West Results - 16th February 2019

With Millbrae no longer in the league, Strathaven had the weekend off, so it was a chance for Uddingston to close the gap. Despite the difference in league positions between them and their visitors (Cumbernauld) Uddy look to have made heavy weather of the game. They did claim the victory, but at 21-17, there was no bonus point for the hosts, but there was one for the visitors.

Fifth placed Clydebank made the trip to Stranraer to take on 7th placed Wigtownshire. Shire made the most of the strong in the first half, claiming a 24-10 lead at half-time, but then it was Clydebanks turn to make the most of the elements. The visitors mounted a come-back and we ended with a 27 a piece draw at full-time.

Both sides will look at their opportunities in the game, and think they could have taken the victory, but over the 80 minutes, a draw is probably a fair result.

With Bishopton and Helensburgh both losing out teams competing for the title, it was a chance for Loch Lomond to move up a couple of places when they made the trip down to Paisley. However Paisley proved too strong for the visitors and came away with a comfortable 41-7 win.
The Paisley win keeps them in sixth, but they are now only one point behind Clydebank.
Lenzie are only a bonus point away from claiming the title, but at the foot of the table there's much still to play for (maybe).

All league Clubs are due to meet on 6th March to discuss and decide on next seasons league structure. At the end of last season, Clubs had intimated their wish for 10 team leagues, but now that we're getting down to the nitty gritty part of the season, it will be interesting to see if that's still what each of them want.

Remaining at 12 teams leagues will mean two up and two down, which would mean Cumbernauld going down (unless they have a spectacular turnaround between now and the end of the season), with Lomond, Bishopton and Helensburgh all safe. However, if it's leagues of 10, then we could see all four of these Clubs down.

As we've noted already, this weekend Lenzie could claim the title with a bonus point win at Strathaven. We'll go for them picking up the win, but not sure if they'll claim the bonus point.

If Strathaven lose, a win for Uddy at Cumbernauld will move them up to third. When they met last weekend, it was a tight final score, so guessing it could be close again - we'll go with away win.

Paisley v Clydebank should be a good one - it's 6th v 5th. We were impressed with Clydebank last weekend, they could have chucked it in the first half being several scores down, but they didn't and came back with an impressive second half. We're going with an away win.

Bishopton v Helensburgh is the big relegation contest of the day. Bishopton have had a tough run of games recently (Strathaven, Lenzie, Uddingston and Oban), so will be looking to get back on track. Whilst Helensburgh looked to have got their mojo back after a difficult start to the season (well until last weekend anyway). This is going to be close, but we're going with Helensburgh.

In the final game Loch Lomond host Wigtownshire, which is a must win for Lomond if they want to get themselves out of the relegation zone. However, Shire were decent last week, so we're going for another away win.