Close Encounter at Carnoustie

Saturday 01 Oct 11 the Blairgowrie senior squad travelled to Carnoustie for their third game in the RBS Caledonia League Divison II. With Blairgowrie having narrowly lost at Carnoustie the previous two seasons this was always going to be a keenly contested match and so it turned out to be. Carnoustie started off the strongest putting the visitors under pressure straight from the kick off with Blairgowrie conceding a number of penalties in the first ten minutes of the match one of which the home side converted although one of the touch judges deemed the ball to have gone outside the posts but a Stephen Souter penalty levelled the score. With both teams conceding far too many penalties it was Blairgowrie who went into the lead after a break by Gavin Wynd who off loaded to Michael Black who burst through a number of tackles to then offload the ball to the supporting Timmy Watson who made the final pass to Fraser Bissett to score near the posts. Converted by Stephen Souter.

Carnoustie reduced the deficit with a penalty before Blairgowrie captain Mike Lee had to leave the field with a leg injury. Carnoustie then added another penalty after a Blairgowrie player had been deemed to have gone over the top just before a Carnoustie player was sin binned for an off the ball incident. With minutes of the first half remaining Carnoustie added another penalty to make the half time score Carnoustie 12 Blairgowrie 10.

From the restart it was Blairgowrie who applied the early pressure with Duncan Campbell making an excellent break offloading the ball to Michael Black who was stopped just short of the Carnoustie try line with the referee showing a red card to the Carnoustie tackler for illegal play. Despite being down to 14 players Carnoustie continued to put Blairgowrie under pressure with young Liam McLaren putting in a try saving tackle to prevent the home side extending their lead. With ten minutes of the game remaining Stephen Souter put Blairgowrie back into the lead but this lead was short lived with Carnoustie converting a penalty with minutes of the match remaining. To their credit the Blairgowrie forwards at long last upped the tempo and after about six phases of play were awarded a penalty on the half way line with the referee indicating that this would be the last play of the day. Having already missed a number of penalty kicks during the afternoon Blairgowrie full back Stephen Souter took the penalty which bounced on the cross bar for a successful conversion to secure the 4 points for Blairgowrie with the final score Carnoustie 15 Blairgowrie 16.

This was certainly not a game for the rugby connoisseur with both teams conceding far too many penalties in an ill tempered match. From this performance it is evident that coaches Alan Webster and Peter Ireland have much to do but they can only help the senior squad to improve if all players turn up to training on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Team: Euan Constable, Mike Lee, Timmy Watson, Ryan Walker, Duncan Campbell, Neil MacRae, Russell Edward, Davie Grieve, John Cockburn, Gavin Wynd, Michael Black, Fraser Maxwell, Liam McLaren, Fraser Bissett, Stephen Souter, Robert Larsen, James Buchanan, Craig Thoms, Peter Duncan, Stevie Stewart, Charlie Fraulo.

Following the match captain Mike lee thanked the referee and Carnoustie for a hard fought game with the man of the match points being awarded to Neil MacRae – 1 point, Liam McLaren – 2 points and Michael Black – 3 points and the Man of the Match award.

This Saturday (8th) Blairgowrie host St Andrews University who are currently two places above Blairgowrie in the league and who will once again prove a stiff test for the Blairgowrie squad. Training takes place at 7.00 pm at the J J Coupar Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays. New players welcome.