Saturday 24
Nov, Blairgowrie Rugby Club welcomed near neighbours Harris Academy
FP's to the J J Coupar Park with mascot for the day Ryan Bowen
leading them onto the pitch in wet and windy conditions. Harris
opted to play with the strong wind behind them but it was the
home side who went into an early lead through Duncan Campbell
when he pounced on a loose ball after Ewan Ireland had charged
down a poor clearance kick by a Harris defender. From this point
on however it was Harris who looked more up for the game pinning
the Blairgowrie team back in their own half for the majority of
the first half. Despite this pressure the Blairgowrie defence
held out well restricting the visitors to two converted penalties
to make the half time score Blairgowrie 5 Harris 6.
Rather unfortunately for Blairgowrie the wind seemed to die down
after the interval thus finding themselves pinned back in their
own half of the pitch for long periods of the game but some good
defensive work by both forwards and backs prevented Harris from
crossing the line. Midway through the second half Blairgowrie
lost the services of stand off Ewen Ireland when he was carried
off the pith with what looked a serious injury and from the ensuing
penalty Gordon Black converted to give Blairgowrie a two point
lead.
With 5 minutes
of the match remaining Harris were awarded a penalty in front
of the posts but much to relief of the Blairgowrie players and
supporters the ball hit the post which meant that Blairgowrie
retained their two point lead. With minutes remaining Stephen
Souter kicked the ball deep into the Harris half and from the
ensuing lineout Blairgowrie were awarded a penalty. Rather than
opt for the kick captain Kev Brown took a quick penalty and charged
his way through the Harris defence but was stopped short of the
line. As has been the case in most of the games this season the
Blairgowrie forwards were in support with Duncan Campbell getting
the final touchdown converted by Stephen Souter. Final score:
Blairgowrie 15 Harris 6.
This was not
one of Blairgowrie's better games and Harris must be disappointed
at not having taken something from the game after their hard work.
This was a match that was strongly influenced by the wind and
the referee and this seemed to knock Blairgowrie out of their
stride but to their credit the players defended well securing
another 4 points to retain top position in the Caledonia Midlands
League. Man of the Match and 3 points- Duncan Campbell, 2 points-
Peter Duncan and 1 point- Timmy Watson.
Team: James Buchanan, Robert Larsen, Euan Constable, Gordon Black,
Ewen Morrison, Duncan Campbell, Timmy Watson, Kev Brown, Gavin
Wynd, Ewen Ireland, Alan Robertson, Peter Duncan, Michael Black,
Andrew Cowan, Stephen Souter, Ross Parsons. Alan Clarke, Jackie
Cockburn, Ryan Walker, Kevin Crichton, Mike Bowen, Andy McNiven,
James Larsen.
This Saturday (1st December) Blairgowrie travel to Bannockburn
for the last league game of the year with the next league match
on Saturday 12th January. It is hoped however that a friendly
match can be arranged later in December so it is essential that
all players continue to attend training on Tuesdays and Thursdays
at the J J Coupar Park.
See pictures
here...
