Saturday 16
Feb 08, Blairgowrie RFC’s 1st XV squad made the long journey
to the island of Lewis to fulfill their Scottish Hydro Electric
Plate fixture against Stornoway RFC following two failed attempts
to get to the islands earlier in the month due to the adverse
weather. With a number of regular first team players unable to
travel for a variety of reasons Blairgowrie’s three substitutes
Ralph Donaldson, Peter Ireland and Mickey Todd amassing a total
of 152 years ‘experience’ between them.
The outward
journey consisted of a 5 hour bus journey to Ullapool leaving
Blairgowrie at 4.30am and then a two and a half hour ferry journey
to Stornoway with the kick off scheduled for 3 o’clock in
the afternoon.
With playing
conditions dry but breezy it was the home side who applied the
early pressure and should have gone into an early lead but missed
a penalty in front of the posts. This was a let off for the visitors
and within minutes Ewen Morrison collected a high ball in midfield
and from the ensuing ruck the ball was fed out to Ewan Ireland
who burst through the Stornoway defence to feed the ball to Stepehen
Souter who took the ball at pace to open the scoring for Blairgowrie.
The home side responded well and only some try saving tackles
from James Larsen and Alan Clarke prevented the home side from
scoring. Midway through the half Blairgowrie added a second try.
With Stornoway
on the attack young Michael Black put in a great tackle on the
halfway line and from the resulting ruck Ewan Ireland picked up
the ball and once again burst through the home defence to score
under the posts ably converted by full back Steven Souter. The
home side were not going to give up easily and were encamped in
the Blairgowrie 22 metre area for long periods but failed to convert
this pressure into points with the final pass letting them down
on more than one occasion with Ewen Ireland using the backwind
to good effect to relieve the pressure. With 5 minutes of the
first half remaining Blairgowrie
added a third try after some great work by Tim Watson with the
final pass going to Gavin Wynd to score under the posts again
converted by Stephen Souter. With seconds of the fist half remaining
young Andrew Cowan was unlucky not to get on the score sheet when
he chased a long Ewan Ireland kick into the corner only for the
referee to adjudge that the Stornoway defender had touched down
the ball first. Half time score: Stornoway 0 Blairgowrie 19.
With the wind behind them in the second half the home team went
straight into attack but once again some great defensive work
by Duncan Campbell and Alan Robertson prevented Stornoway from
getting an early score. Stornoway continued to apply pressure
for long periods of the second half but full credit to the Blairgowrie
squad who handled everything that Stornoway could throw at them
with captain Kev Brown and wing forward James Larsen leading the
way by tackling everything that moved.
Midway through
the second half Ewan Ireland had to leave the field after a nasty
collision with the goalpost but bagman Graeme Ervine’s ‘magic
sponge’ did the trick with Ewan even managing to strut his
stuff on the disco floor later in the evening. With Ewan having
to leave the field Blairgowrie welcomed Mickey Todd onto
the field to bolster the Blairgowrie defence.
Eventually
Stornoway’s pressure was rewarded with a try after some
good work by their captain ‘Oggy’. Blairgowrie however
quickly responded and after some good work again by Robert Larsen
the home side conceded a penalty in front of their posts to allow
Stephen Souter to add another 3 points for Blairgowrie. With 10
minutes of the match remaining the home side scored their second
try after a Stornoway player charged down a Blairgowrie clearance
kick. In the final minute Blairgowrie were unlucky not to add
a fourth try after Duncan Campbell and Daffyd Jones had harassed
the home defence into spilling the ball on their own try line
but the referee blew the final whistle to make the final score
Stornoway 10 Blairgowrie 22.
Team: Tim Watson, Robert Larsen, Mike Todd, Alan Clarke, Ewen
Morrison, James Larsen, Duncan Campbell, Kev Brown (capt), Gavin
Wynd, Ewan Ireland, Alan Roberston, Michael Black, Andrew Cowan,
Daffyd Jones, Stephen Souter, Ralph Donaldson, Peter Ireland,
Graeme Ervine. Man of the Match points were awarded to James Larsen
-1 point, Robert Larsen - 1 point, Ewan Irealne - 2 points and
Kev Brown 3 points and Man of the Match.
While this may not have been a game for the rugby connoisseur
it was a real gutsy performance by the Blairgowrie team against
a good Stornoway team and full credit must go to all the players
some of who sacrificed family events to ensure that the fixture
was fulfilled.
Blairgowrie Rugby Club would also like to thank everyone at Stornoway
Rugby Club for a memorable weekend and particularly to their coach
Garry Dunn who helped make the weekend such a success. Blairgowrie
Rugby Club would also like to express their thanks to local travel
agent Brenda Beattie of The Travel Bar who helped arrange the
trip.
This Saturday (23rd) Blairgowrie have the relatively short trip
to Aboyne Rugby Club for the next round of the Scottish Hydro
Electric Caledonia Plate competition. Team selection and travel
arrangements will be announced at training on Thursday. Trhere
will be spare seats available for any supporters who wish to travel
to Aboyne with the team.
See Slims
pictures here...
See the Stornoway
photographers pictures here...
