Uddingston made heavy weather of the visit of Lomond & Helensburgh to Castle Policies on Saturday, surviving a second half fightback to secure all 5 league points and a strong 47-27 victory.

With the league season approaching the half way point, the win sees the Villagers sitting in second place in the table, 1 point behind leaders Cambuslang but only 2 points ahead of Strathendrick and Bishopton. With Bishopton having 2 games in hand over the others at the top, and still holding on to their unbeaten record, it promises to be a competitive few months ahead.

The Villagers got off to an electric start and were 3 tries to the good with only 15 minutes of game time on the clock. Ross McKeown secured the opener, before Andy Watson and Ru Anderson added to the tally. Anderson slotted over the conversions for all 3.

At 21-0 the Villagers were already looking for the try bonus point, and Josh McPhail duly delivered on 26 minutes with a try that maintained the try per game scoring record of all 4 try scorers over the past 3 weeks.

The Visitors got themselves onto the score board with 2 successful penalties leaving it for Blane Anderson to round off the opening 40 minutes with a well taken try, again converted by his younger brother, and seeing the Villagers into the break with a comfortable 33-6 advantage.

Whatever was in the half time oranges it seemed to have a delayed impact on the Villagers. A converted try by Ru Anderson straight from the restart pushed them to a 40-6 lead but after that the next 30 minutes was all Lomond & Helensburgh. Converted tries on 59, 70, and 76 minutes saw the visitors fight their way back to a 40-27 deficit, and a try bonus point was very much in their sights as the Villagers failed to deal with the onslaught, and a mounting penalty count.

With the match running out of time it was the Villagers who rounded off the scoring, McPhail crossing for his second of the afternoon. Anderson added the extras and the final whistle sounded with a comfortable 47-27 victory.

Despite the scoreline, the Villagers will need to sort out their discipline ahead of next weekend's trip to league leaders Cambuslang, in a match that could have a huge bearing on the final placings come the end of the season. With the clock's going back this weekend it's early kick offs for the next few months. All the action gets underway at Coats Park at 2pm