Pete Bruce Makes a Comeback

Saturday 19 Apr 08, a mixture of firsts and seconds travelled to Forfar for a friendly fixture against near neighbours Strathmore RFC with former player Pete Bruce making a comeback at scrum half some 10 years after his last game for the Blairgowrie senior team and club captain Kev Brown gracing the no 15 shirt for the first (and possibly the last) time.

Blairgowrie started off well against a well organised Strathmore team with captain for the day James Larsen, Mike Bowen and Euan Constable all making charging runs through the opposing defence early on in the match with Gordon Black unlucky not to score within the first few minutes of the game. This early pressure eventually paid off with scrum half Peter Bruce scoring a try after some good handling by Stephen Souter, Alan Clarke and Fraser Bissett.

The home side quickly responded however with a push over try after winning a lineout on the Blairgowrie try line. Balirgowrie in turn responded equally quickly with a try by Fraser Bissett after some good play by wing forward Mick Bowen which was converted by Stephen Souter. With the game flowing from end to end some poor defensive tackling by the Blairgowrie backs allowed the home side to score a further two tries to make the half time score Strathmore 24 Blairgowrie 12.

With both teams fairly evenly balanced for the first half Strathmore introduced a number of experienced players at the interval which effectively ended the match as a contest with the home side running in a further two tries to make the final score Strathmore 38 Blairgowrie 12.

The first half was an entertaining match for the onlookers but Blairgowrie competed well in the second half against a much stronger team with Gordon Black enjoying a rare opportunity to play in the back row and unlucky not to score in the dying minutes of the match. There were a number of good individual displays from some of the Blairgowrie players with the man of the match points being awarded to Fraser Bissett -1 point, Mick Bowen - 2 points and Gordon Black - 3 points.

Team: Euan Constable, Michael Black, Jake Cockburn, Alan Clarke, Mickey Todd, Gordon Black, Mick Bowen, James Larsen, Pete Bruce, Stephen Souter, Alan Robertson, Fraser Bissett, Dafyd Jones, Kev Brown.

This Saturday (26th) a squad of Blairgowrie players will be travelling to Crieff to take part in their annual 7's tournament. Team selection and travel arrangements will be announced at training on Tuesday and Thursday.