Eight Try Romp Against Panmure

Following a successful tour to Cyprus the Blairgowrie senior squad returned to league action against Panmure RFC in a Scottish Hydro Electric Caledonia League Division II encounter at the J J Coupar Park.

Having already beaten Panmure in a hard fought match at Broughty Ferry earlier in the season the expectation was that this would once again be a keenly contested match but much to the delight of the home support  Blairgowrie secured the try bonus point before the interval scoring 4 tries within the first 20 minutes of the match.

The first score came after 5 minutes following some good driving by the Blairgowrie forwards to allow Rory Philip to touch down in the corner converted by Stephen Souter. Rory was unlucky not to score a second try minutes later when he crossed the line but was prevented from touching down the ball when he was held up by a Panmure defender. From the ensuing scrum however the ball was quickly fed out to young stand off Michael Simpson who cut through the Panmure defence allowing winger Ally Walker to dive in at the corner for Blairgowrie’s second try. Panmure responded with a successful penalty kick but Blairgowrie quickly responded with another try. This time it was Neil MacRae who broke through the visitors defence offloading the ball to Gavin Wynd who in turn fed the ball to Michael Simpson who once again split the Panmure defence releasing young John Cockburn who sidestepped the Panmure winger to score in the corner with Stephen Souter slotting home the conversion from the touchline. Stephen added a penalty minutes later. At this point Blairgowrie were arguably playing some of the best rugby they have played this season with forwards and backs linking well producing some great passages of fast flowing rugby. It was from one of these passages of play that produced the fourth try after Neil MacRae made the initial break with the ball passing through at least a dozen pairs of hands to allow Fraser Bissett to score in the corner converted by Stephen Souter. With minutes of the first half remaining a superb tackle by Gavin Wynd in the middle of the field resulted in Panmure losing possession of the ball which was picked up by Neil MacRae who offloaded the ball to Michael Simpson. Once again Michael cut through the Panmure defence then dummying the Panmure centre before releasing the ball to Fraser Bissett who went in under the posts unopposed. Try converted by Stephen Souter to make the half time score Blairgowrie 36 Panmure 3.

With the match effectively won in the first half Blairgowrie took the opportunity to make a number of changes at the interval with young Alan Stirling making his debut for the senior team in the front row. Blairgowrie continued to dominate possession with a sixth try coming within 10 minutes of the restart. This time it was back row forward Kev Brown who made the initial break followed by some superb passing along the back line with Neil MacRae making the final pass to prop forward James Buchanan who charged through the Panmure defence to score near the posts converted by Stephen Souter. The seventh try of the day came from Peter Duncan after a similar move to the previous score.

With the match drawing to a close Mark Reddin who had worked tirelessly throughout the match scored Blairgowrie’s eighth try of the day and his first try for the senior team in a league match. Final score Blairgowrie 55 Panmure 3.

Team: Jake Cockburn, Rory Philip, Euan Constable, Ewan Morrison, Mark Reddin, Russell Edward, Neil MacRae, Peter Duncan, Gavin Wynd, Michael Simpson, Fraser Bissett, Michael Black, Ally Walker, John Cockburn, Stephen Souter, Ryan Walker, James Buchanan, Al Guild, Kev Brown, Liam McLaren, Stevie Stewart, Alan Stirling, Liam Tweedie.

This was arguably one of Blairgowrie’s best display’s of the season and while every single player contributed to a most entertaining match it was particularly pleasing to see young players Alan Stirling, Michael Simpson, Liam McLaren  and John Cockburn making such a valuable contribution to the match. Following the match captain Gavin Wynd thanked referee Duncan Campbell and Panmure RFC for a good game. Thanks were also given to Ian Maclean of the Royal Hotel for sponsoring the match, to young Jake Barrell who was match mascot for the day and to Ralph Donaldson and the players who prepared the food for the sponsors and teams respectively. Man of the Match points were awarded to James Buchanan - 1 point, Mark Reddin - 2 points and Neil MacRae - 3 points and Man of the Match.

Blairgowrie’s next league game will be at home to Fife Southern RFC on Saturday 17th April with a 3.00  kick off. Training continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.00 at the J J Coupar Park