Saturday 03
Nov, Blairgowrie RFC had the relatively short trip to Pitlochry
to take on league newcomers Atholl RFC who were in second place
in the league just behind Blairgowrie. In beautiful sunshine Blairgowrie
kicked off and immediately put the home side under early pressure
but failed to score from a penalty in the first minutes of the
match. This early pressure however was soon to pay off when Duncan
Campbell stole an Atholl lineout ball to allow the Blairgowrie
pack to drive over for a try from club president Gordon Black.S
Some five
minutes later Blairgowrie doubled their score with a similar try
this time from club captain Kev Brown. Midway through the half
stand off Ewan Ireland placed a ball in the opposing corner and
from the resulting lineout Blairgowrie drove over for a try this
time by Robert Larsen, converted by Stephen Souter. At this point
Blairgowrie looked as if they could score at will and only a high
tackle on birthday boy Michael Black prevented Blairgowrie scoring
another try but Stephen Souter added three points from the resultant
penalty to make the half time score Atholl 0 Blairgowrie 20.
With Blairgowrie making a number of changes at the interval and
Euan Constable, Robert Larsen, James Buchanan and Cally Gordon
having to leave the field of play through injury Blairgowrie appeared
to lose their way a bit and Atholl were unlucky not to score after
being encamped in the Blairgowrie half for at least twenty minutes
after the restart.
Despite this
pressure from the home team it was Blairgowrie who were to add
to their earlier three tries with Euan Ireland hacking the ball
along the line to score in the corner and ensure the bonus point.
Converted by Stephen Souter. Minutes later Blairgowrie added a
fifth try when Ewan Ireland floated a huge pass over the heads
of the two centres for full back Stephen Souter to score in the
corner. With minutes of the match remaining Blairgowrie piled
on the pressure and from a lineout in the corner the Blairgowrie
pack drove over for Timmy Watson to score Blairgowrie’s
sixth try of the day to make the final score Atholl 0 Blairgowrie
37.
This was a good all round display by the Blairgowrie squad with
young Andrew Cowan settling into the 1st XV with ease and all
the squad members making a valuable contribution to the win. Man
of the Match awards were: Kev Brown and Ewan Ireland both- 1 point,
Duncan Campbell - 2 points and Ewen Morrison - 3 points and the
Man of the Match Award.
Team: Euan Constable, Robert Larsen, James Buchanan, Alan Clarke,
Gordon Black, Ewen Morrison, Timmy Watson, Duncan Campbell, Kev
Brown, Gavin Wynd, Ewan Ireland, Peter Duncan, Alan Robertson,
Andrew Cowan, Michael Black, Stephen Souter, Mike Bowen, Ross
Parsons, Jackie Cockburn, James Larsen, Cally Gordon.
This Saturday (10th) Blairgowrie play hosts to Panmure RFC who
have moved up to second place in the league after a string of
wins over the past few weeks. This will another test for the Blairgowrie
squad and coaches Peter Ireland and Ian Roberston cannot stress
strongly enough the importance of all players turning up to training
on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the J J Coupar Park.
Last week also saw the draw for the Scottish Hydro Electric Plate
draw with Blairgowrie being given an away tie to Stornoway RFC
with the tie to be played on Saturday 2nd February 2008.
See the pictures
here...
