PICTURES: Moray Rugby Club snatch victory at the death to defeat Ardrossan and progress to the semi-finals of the National Shield

Moray progressed to the semi-final of the National Shield on Saturday when they scored a converted try in the final play of the game to narrowly defeat Ardrossan by 22 points to 20.

The visitors came to Morriston with an impressive unbeaten record in West Region Division 1 and from the kick-off took the game to Moray.

They had the benefit of the elements in the first half and their stand-off used these to gain good field position.

In the 11th minute they took the lead. A penalty took them to an attacking line, five metres out. Clean ball was taken, moved and a couple of phases later, they breached the defensive line and scored a converted try.

For the next 20 minutes, the game went from end-to-end with defences coming out on top. In the 32nd minute, however, the Ardrossan side scored a second try. They took a Moray five-metre scrum against the head and quickly moved it wide to score an unconverted try and stretch their lead to 12 points.

Three minutes from half-time, a high tackle by the Elgin gave the visitors to add three points for a 15-0 advantage at the break.

The home side now had the elements with them and went about trying to get back in the game.

In the 47th minute, they opened their account. After a number of penalties for high tackles/offside in the 22 and a number of drives for the line, the ball was moved to stand-off Cameron Hughes who broke the first tackle and offloaded to No 8 David Clarke to score. Full-back Rory Millar added the conversion.

Six minutes later, Moray were back in the 22 and putting the visitors under pressure with a number of driving phases. Penalties were leaked and from this Millar landed a kick to reduce the lead to five points.

The Elgin side continued to press but, in their desperation, to get to the line, a pass was intercepted by Ardrossan in the 22. A number of phases later they scored an unconverted try out wide to push the score out to 10-20.

Another high-tackle by a second-row, around the 69 minute, saw him given his second yellow and therefore a red card.

The resultant penalty was dispatched to five metres from the line. Ball was taken off the top and moved to wing-forward Alex Matthews on a front peal and he made the line. Millar could not add the extras, and Moray still trailed by five points.

In the final stages of the game, the home side pressed for the winning score. Several penalties for high tackles or offside were given, resulting in two additional yellow cards.

With the clock in the red, a tap penalty was taken and in contact, offloaded to wing Lewis Scott who forced his way between two players and over the line to score. Millar remained composed and landed the extras to win the match at 22-20.

It had been a real battle between two good and evenly matched sides where the result could have gone either way. It had been the proverbial game of two halves and the Moray side’s ability to play to the final whistle was again to the fore and they were delighted to come through this tough fixture and reach the semi-finals.

The draw for the semi-final has been made and Moray will play either Linlithgow or Portobello at Morriston on April 13.

This Saturday, however, it is the start of the league play-offs for Moray when they host Dundee 2nd XV at Morriston. Kick-off is 3pm.