Blair Compete Well Against League Leaders
Saturday 10 Mar 12, Blairgowrie played hosts to RBS Caledonia League II leaders Grangemouth RFC who are currently unbeaten in all competitions this season. With a number of first team regulars unavailable for Blairgowrie a number of players had to come out of ‘retirement’ including Simon McCaig, Cally Gordon, Alan Clarke, Jake Cockburn and Charlie Fraulo.
From the kick off it was Blairgowrie who took the early initiative with the Blairgowrie back row of MacRae, Grieve and Edwards putting the visitors under pressure early in the game. Despite this early pressure it was the visitors who scored first after opting to kick to touch rather than kicking the penalty. From the resultant lineout Grangemouth secured the ball with their forwards weight advantage helping them drive the ball over for a try.
Blairgowrie continued to compete well against a much heavier pack with Stephen Souter unlucky not to score with two penalties against the wind and young Stuart Simpson and ‘veteran’ Simon McCaig both putting in try saving tackles before Grangemouth scored a second try which was a mirror image of their first try.
From the restart Alan Clarke put in a great challenge forcing the visitors to concede a penalty which Stephen Souter duly converted. With the visitors finding the opposition possibly tougher than they had expected one of their players was sin binned and from the resultant penalty Fraser Maxwell made a superb break only to be stopped short of the try line.
With the first half drawing to a close the Garngemouth winger took a quick tap penalty and sped up the wing for what looked a certain try but a last minute tackle by Charlie Fraulo prevented the score to make the half time score Blairgowrie 3 Grangemouth 12.
With the wind behind them Blairgowrie started off the second half strongly with Michael Black making a number of good breaks for the home side only for the visitors to concede yet another penalty which Stephen Souter converted. With Blairgowrie being temporarily reduced to 14 men after one of their players was sin binned Grangemouth upped the tempo but some great defensive tackling by Mark Reddin and the Blairgowrie back row prevented the visitors from scoring. At this point Blairgowrie were very much still in the game with full back John Cockburn making a superb break from defence running some 60 meters but alas he did not have sufficient support and the opportunity was lost. With Blairgowrie missing a further two penalties and just failing to score in the corner after some good work by Stuart Simpson Grangemouth’s fitness began to show scoring three tries in the last quarter of the game to make the final score Blairgowrie 6 Grangemouth 31.
This was a sterling effort from what was effectively a make shift team for Blairgowrie with each and every Blairgowrie player giving one hundred per cent on the day. Despite their efforts Grangemouth were deserving of the 5 points and a win against St Andrews next weekend should see them win the league title unbeaten.
Team: Mike Lee, Timmy Watson, Euan Constable, Mark Reddin, Ewen Morrison, Russell Edwards, Neil MacRae, Davie Grieve, Gavin Wynd, Stephen Souter, Fraser Maxwell, Michael Black, Stuart Simpson, Simon McCaig, John Cockburn, Charlie Fraulo, Cally Gordon, Alan Clarke, Callum Michie, Jake Cockburn.
Following the match captain Mike Lee thanked Grangemouth for a good game with thanks also being relayed to the referee for an excellent performance. Man of the match points were awarded as follows; 3 points and joint Man of the Match to Russell Edwards and Mark Reddin, 2 – points to Stuart Simpson and Michael Black and 1 – point each to all the other Blairgowrie players for a good team effort.
This Saturday (17th) Blairgowrie travel to Alloa RFC. Team selection and travel arrangements will be announced at training which takes place at the J J Coupar Park at 7.00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Finally everyone at Blairgowrie Rugby Club would like to wish player and former club captain Fraser Bissett a speedy recovery after sustaining a serious leg break while training the Blairgowrie juniors last week.