Gordonians earned a crucial bonus point victory against Whitecraigs at Countesswells to move within one point of 10th-placed Falkirk and safety.
The hosts dismantled the side below them in National League 2, storming to a six-try victory to provide some much-needed confidence to a side which have often found the going tough this season.
Head coach Ryan Morrice said: “It was a rusty performance but I thought we were good value for the win because we were the better side. It was our mistakes which kept Whitecraigs in the game.”
It didn’t take long for Gordonians to open proceedings with prop Finlay Lennox crossing the whitewash within the first six minutes, before Graeme Crawford converted from a tight angle.
This was followed by another well-worked score as Thomas Urquhart skilfully passed inside to hooker Thomas Williams who dived under the posts.
Towards the end of the second half Whitecraigs were able to get themselves on the scoreboard through a Jack Ramage score, which made it 14-5 at half-time.
Despite this slight setback, Gordonians started the second half strongly, with Williams claiming his second try from a driving maul on 45 minutes.
This was followed by a try from Graeme Crawford, who backed himself to cross the whitewash after the visitors’ Lee McWhinnie visited the sin bin, before being sent off later in the match. Crawford then added his third conversion to make it 26-5 as the game approached the hour mark
Another impressive Gordonians score came soon after when a superb Matthew Hillier touch-finding kick was followed up by a skilful Daryll Morrow try as the centre ripped apart Whitecraigs’ disorganised defence.
The hosts’ sixth try came from replacement Alasdair Stephen, who crossed in the corner to make it 38-5 after another period of sustained pressure.
Despite conceding two late tries, the scoreline reflected a strong Gordonians performance and they will be hoping to build on this result when they encounter Kirkcaldy next week.