Blair Secure 5 Points
Saturday 12 Sep 09, the Blairgowrie senior squad met their near neighbours Atholl RFC at the J J Coupar Park in the third Scottish Hydro Electric Caledonia League Division II match of the season. With Atholl having won their first two league matches of the season and Blairgowrie having narrowly lost their first two league games of the season this was a must win game for the home side. The Blairgowrie team were led onto the field by Samuel and Jack Michalak who were mascots for the day and with the sun shining captain Gavin Wynd opted to take the kick off. Blairgowrie went straight into attack and went into an early lead after 10 minutes after Neil MacRae had stolen an Atholl lineout ball which was passed to James Buchanan who in turn fed the ball to Fraser Bissett who took the ball at pace to open the scoring for the home side.
The Blairgowrie squad at this point of the game showed much more conviction than they showed in the first two games of season with the Blairgowrie back row forwards playing particularly well. The next score for Blairgowrie came after some good work by Kev Brown, Ryan Walkerc and Neil MacRae who made the ball available for the backs with Peter Duncan scoring under the posts with Stephen Souter adding a further two points from the conversion kick. With the first half coming to a close front some excellent driving by front row forwards Rory Philips and Al Guild allowed the ball to be fed out to the backs with Stephen Souter scoring the try and the conversion to make the half time score Blairgowrie 19 Atholl 0.
From the restart Blairgowrie appeared to take their foot off the pedal and some poor defensive tackling by the Blairgowrie backs allowed Atholl to score a converted try within minutes of the restart. Blairgowrie picked up the tempo again putting the Atholl defence under pressure but had to settle for three points from a Stephen Souter penalty. At this point of the match the visitors upped the pace and with some of the Blairgowrie players losing possession of the ball far too easily this allowed Atholl to score another two tries with only a try saving tackle by Stevie Stewart preventing a third try in the corner. With minutes of the match remaining Ritchie Duncan who was making his debut for the home side picked up a loose ball from an Atholl lineout and drove superbly towards the oppositions try line. From the resultant scrum Blairgowrie secured the ball with Gavin Wynd releasing Fraser Bissett to score under the posts which was converted by Stephen Souter. Final score Blairgowrie 29 Atholl 19.
This was once again a game of two halves with Blairgworie playing some excellent rugby in the first half but for some reason taking the foot off the gas in the second half thus allowing the opposition far too much possession of the ball. While there were a number of Blairgowrie players who were contesting for the man of the match points coach Alan Webster nominated the points to Ritchie Duncan - 1 point, Neil MacRae - 2 points and Fraser Bissett - 3 points and the Man of the Match award with young John Cockburn being given a special mention for a sound display at scrum half having made his senior debut last week on the wing. It was also a proud moment for dad Jake Cockburn who came on in the second half to make it a family affair with himself, young John and Stevie all on the pitch at the same time.
Team: Al Guild, Rory Philips, James Buchanan, Ewan Morrison, Andy Barnett, Mark Reddin, Kev Brown, Neil MacRae, Ryan Walker, John Cockburn, Gavin Wynd, Peter Duncan, Fraser Bissett, Stevie Stewart, Stephen Souter, Mickey Todd, Robert Larsen, Ritchie Duncan, Jake Cockburn, Euan Constable, Ally Walker, Cally Gordon.
Following the match captain Gavin Wynd thanked match sponsors A Proctor Group for their support, Joan Ireland and Ali MacRae for preparing the pre match food, Dawn Black and Jenni Clarke for feeding the players, referee Chris Williams for a sound display with the whistle and to the Atholl player s for a hard fought match. This Saturday (19th) Blairgowrie have the relatively short journey to Broughty Ferry where they will meet Panmure RFC. Team selection and travel arrangements will be announced at training which takes place at 7.00 at the J J Coupar Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays.