Blair Have to Settle For a Bonus Point at Carnoustie

Saturday29 Aug 09, Blairgowrie travelled to Carnoustie for the first Scottish Hydro Electric Midlands League Division 2 match of the season. With previous encounters between these two teams always being fairly keenly contested Saturday’s match was no different but it was Blairgowrie who opened the scoring with a penalty from Stephen Souter after some excellent running by young John Cockburn making his debut for the 1st XV team.

Carnoustie quickly levelled the score with a penalty of their own but Blairgowrie responded with a well taken try by Fraser Bissett who broke through a number of tackles to score with Stephen Souter successfully kicking the conversion and then adding another penalty to put Blairgowrie into a 13-3 lead after 15 minutes. The home side were to score the next try but once again Blairgowrie quickly responded with Ryan Walker securing the ball from the restart who then passed the ball to Neil MacRae who in turn fed the ball to the Blairgowrie backs with Fraser Bissett once again taking advantage of a gap in the home defence to score his second try of the day to extend Blairgowrie’s lead. Carnoustie added another penalty before Blairgowrie scored their third try and arguably the try of the match. Full back Michael Black gathered a high ball which he passed out to Stephen Souter who cut through the Carnoustie defence and then fed the ball to the supporting Fraser Bissett who once again took the ball at pace to complete his hat trick and make the half time score Carnoustie 13 Blairgowrie 23.

Unfortunately Blairgowrie failed to repeat their first half performance and with the wind behind them the home side dominated possession for long periods of the second half adding two converted tries with Ally Walker preventing a further score with a superb try saving tackle on the line. With the home side leading 27-23 with 5 minutes of the match remaining Blairgowrie pushed for a score but unnecessary errors at crucial times meant that they had to settle for a losing bonus point with the final score Carnoustie 27 - Blairgowrie 23.

This was undoubtedly a game of two halves with Blairgowrie playing some very good rugby in the first half but then failing to repeat this in the second half allowing the home side to out muscle them far too often. While it was disspointing to come away with only one point there were a lot of positives to take from the match with young John Cockburn making the transition from youth rugby to senior rugby with ease.
Following the match captain Gavin Wynd thanked the home side for a tough match with the Man of the Match points being awarded as follows. Ryan Walker - 1 pint, Neil MacRae - 2 points, with Fraser Bissett getting 3 points and the Man of the Match Award.

This Saturday (5th) Blairgowrie travel the relatively short journey to Dundee to play Harris Academy which will undoubtedly be a tough match. Team selection and travel arrangements will be announced at training which takes place at the JJ J Coupar Park at 7.00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. New players always welcome. 

Team: Andy Barnett, Robert Larsen, Euan Constable, Ewan Morrison, Mark Reddin, Rory Philips, Ryan Walker, Neil MacRae, Gavin Wynd, Stephen Souter, John Cockburn, Peter Duncan, Fraser Bissett, Ally Walker, Michael Black, Liam McLaren, Alan Guild.