The Buddies had been kept out of action by a combination of weather-related call-offs and a series of international weekends, and were itching to get back to West Region Division Three duty.
Grant Sweenie’s men had been training hard throughout the lay-off and it showed as they raced out of the traps at Anchor Playing Fields on Saturday.
Paisley’s bogey team Clydesdale have thrown a spanner in the works in each of the last three seasons, but there was to be no such problem early in this match as fullback Euan Stuart settled any nerves with three beautifully struck penalties.
Then after 15 minutes, young winger colin mckay – who graduated from the under 18 team at the start of the season – tore up the left flank in front of the home support and left a number of Clydesdale players in his wake to score under the posts.
Stuart again made no mistake from the kicking tee.
Paisley were being dominated by the heavy visitors’ scrum, but in every other department the home side were in complete control. It seemed only a matter of time before they struck again.
And from a line-out on the Clydesdale 22-metre line, Paisley went for a planned move which, although didn’t go quite the way the playbook suggests it should, still resulted in a score.
Switching the direction of play from a breakdown at the last minute, scrumhalf Andrew Gibson fed the backs who attacked the right-hand corner. When support came from the forwards, the ball was shipped back left and prop Scott Sutherland drew two men before popping the ball to second-row Stef Lach to dive over the line.
With a comfortable 21-point cushion at the break, Sweenie warned his team not to get complacent, but the always dangerous Clydesdale rallied in the second-half and scored two tries of their own.
The first was disappointing from a Paisley point of view as the Clydesdale winger touched down in the corner, virtually unchallenged.
And the second, after another dominant scrum from the visitors, was as scrappy as they come from a defensive point of view. But Paisley held strong to claim the four points.
Sweenie said: “The first half was excellent, exactly what we were looking for. But we can’t switch off like we did after half-time.
“Considering we had 10 weeks without a game, it’s a good way to get back into the swing of things.”
Paisley face Jordanhill Phoenix in the league this Saturday, kick-off at Anchor is at 2pm.