Blair Lose Out in Fife
Saturday 07 Nov 09, Blairgowrie travelled south to play Fife Southern in Scottish Hydro Electric Caledonia League Division II at Rosyth. With Fife Southern being serious contenders for the league title and Blairgworie having a number of first team regulars unavailable for selection this was always going to be a difficult match for the visitors.
From the kick off it was Fife Southern who had all the early pressure but some resolute defending by the Blairgowrie backs ensured that the home side only had one converted penalty to show for their efforts after the first half hour of the match with Blairgowrie responding with a well taken penalty from Stephen Souter. With Blairgowrie looking as if they had managed the storm the Fife Southern stand off kicked a perfectly placed cross kick into the corner which Blairgowrie failed to clear allowing the Fife winger to score in the corner. With minutes of the first half remaining Blairgowrie lost possession of the ball in the middle of the pitch and with at least three Blairgworie players missing tackles it allowed Fife to score under the posts to make the half time score Fife Southern 15 Blairgowrie 3.
From the restart it was the Blairgowrie squad who maintained most of the possession pinning the home side back in their own half for most of the second half but allowing the stronger more experienced Fife forwards to turn over ball far too often. Midway through the second half Stephen Souter reduced the leeway with a second penalty and at this point it looked as if Blairgowrie may manage to salvage something from the match. However with minutes of the match remaining the home side ran in a breakaway try to effectively finish the game. Blairgowrie to their credit were not finished and from a quick lineout ball Fraser Bissett took the ball at pace and evaded at least four tackles to score a try making the final score Fife Southern 22 Blairgowrie 11.
Bearing in mind that there were a number of first team regulars missing this was a spirited effort by Blairgowrie against a well organised and experienced Fife team who will no doubt be title contenders. Following the match Fife Southern and the referee were thanked for a good competitive game with the man of the match points being awarded to Michael Black and Michael Grant -1 point each, Kev Brown -2 points and Mark Reddin - 3 points and the Man of the match award.
Team: Al Guild, Rory Philip, Euan Constable, Peter Duncan, Ewan Morrison, Mark Reddin, Neil MacRae, Kev Brown, John Cockburn, Stephen Souter, Fraser Bissett, Michael Black, Stevei Stewart, Ally Walker, Michael Grant, Gavin Wynd, Jake Cockburn, Mickey Todd.
This Saturday (14th) Blairgowrie welcome Carnoustie RFC to the J J Coupar Park for what is certain to be a keenly contested match with Carnoustie the only team who remain unbeaten in the league after 10 games. Kick off 2.00.
Training continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.00 at the J J Coupar Park. New and old players welcome.