Blair Rams Tournament - 31 Oct 10

On Sunday 31st October Blairgowrie Rugby Club’s Rams Youth Section hosted over 300 youth players at their tournament at the J J Coupar Park with teams from Arbroath, Panmure, Carnoustie, Strathmore, Kinross, Montrose and Blairgowrie participating in what was a truly superb day of rugby.

Micro Section:
The Blairgowrie micro’s squad produced plenty of fireworks on the day with some great rugby being played by the youngest players taking part in the tournament. In all three games they played attacking rugby supporting each other with good mazy running, creating space and off loading the ball out of the tackle .In defence they tackled well and converted possession into points. Results: Blairgowrie 6 Montrose 1. Blairgowrie 6 Carnoustie 6. Blairgowrie 3 Strathmore 4. Try scorers were: Aiden 3, Cole Baxter 2, Matthew Duncan 2, Samuel Michalak 1, Sam Rennie 1 and David 1.
Overall winners of the Micro section competition were Strathmore.

P4/5 Section:
Blairgowrie 5 Arbroath 4
Great tackling in particular by Patrick Damodaran and Callum Dawson with strong running from Fergus Barron, Bruce Campbell, Ben Robertson and excellent support play from others. Try scorers: Fergus Barron 2, Bruce Campbell 2, Callum Dawson 1
Blairgowrie 7 Montrose A 4
Great display from all involved in particular Hayleigh Todd, Aaron Barnett and Andrew King with tries coming from Fergus Barron 5, Bruce Campbell and Patrick Damodaran one apiece. The squad really played together well throughout and showed some great link play and passing.
Panmure 7 Blairgowrie 2
With both teams having won 2 games apiece this game was the decider to determine who went on to play in the final against winners of group B, Blairgowrie started strong with good passages of play from all, in particular Jack Coupar McGuiness, Steven Farnington and Andrew King, however Panmure proved too strong for the hard working Rams and again tackling their hearts out could not stop the Angus side running in 7 tries. Fergus Barron and Bruce Campbell managed to get a try each for the Rams which was some consolation for all the hard work and determination they showed throughout the tournament. The squad should take great pride in their overall display and their coaches Robert Smith, Robin Barron and Al Robertson thank them all for their efforts.
Blairgowrie P4/P5 Squad: Squad. Fergus Barron, Bruce Campbell, Ben Robertson, Steven Farnington, Jack Coupar McGuiness, Aaron Barnett, Patrick Damodaran, Callum Dawson,  Andrew King,  Hayleigh Todd

P6/P7 Section:
The first game of the tournament saw Blairgowrie drawn against Panmure. With both teams looking to be evenly matched the half time score was 1 try apiece.  In the second half Blairgowrie upped the tempo with some great support play and tackling eventually running out winners by 4 tries to one. Try scorers for Blairgowrie: : Cameron Freed Smith, Angus Roberts and Kirsty Roberts.
The second game saw Blairgowrie take on Arbroath and started off strongly with some superb tackling and support play by all the players. By now the team had realised  that quick play at penalties was going to pay dividends which was also to prove fruitful at the next game. Blair finished 7 - 0. Try scorers were Cameron Freed Smith, Murray freed Smith, Scott Fairnington and James McCaig.
The final tie was against Strathmore who had won their section comfortably which was always going to be a hard game. At the end of a keenly contested first half the Blairgowrie led by  3 tries to 2.  Some great defending from all the players and breakaways deciding tries. The second half was by far Blairgowrie’s best display of the day with their fourth try coming from two excellent tackles and a loose ball being picked up and scored. Quick penalties were to count for the last 2 tries, with a finishing score of Blairgowrie 6 Strthamore 2. This ensured that the Blairgowrie P6/P7 squad were overall winners of the their section of the tournament with some excellent team play.
Blairgowrie P6/P7 Squad: Angus Roberts, Kirsty Roberts, Cameron Freed Smith, Murray Freed Smith, Scott Fairnington, Rob Smith, Alistair Coupar, James McCaig, Jack Michelak.

S1/S2 Section:
In their first game of the day Blairgowrie S1/S2’s met a strong Montrose team but  strong running and excellent rucking and mauling by the home side resulted in a convincing win for Blairgowrie  by 14 tries to 4. In their second game of the day Blairgowrie once again produced some good attacking rugby beating Carnoustie by 7 tries to nil. In the final match of the afternoon Blairgowrie met Panmure who were also unbeaten going into the final match of the day. This was a keenly contested match which at one point looked as if either of the teams could win. However some powerful play by the Blairgowrie boys towards the end of the match enabled them to win the match by 7 tries to 5 thus winning the competition. Squad: Fin Allan, Callum Blanche, Murray Scott, William Campbell, Callum Thom, Craig Rimmer, Gregor Cunningham, Cole McCulloch, Rory Grant, Finlay Robertson, Charlie Robertson, Fraser Black, Lloyd Tindal, Ollie Tindal, Max Tinmdal, Mathew Michie & Regan Brown.

Following a superb day of rugby Rams President Billy Campbell thanked all the teams, players and coaches who helped make the day such a success. Thanks were also relayed to John Turpie for preparing the pitches, personnel from Tank Driving Scotland who attended the envy, St Andrews First Aiders, the referees, and all those parents who helped man the BBQ and the Sweet stall and who prepared the food and the teas for 500 people on the day.

This was a superb effort by all who are involved with the Blairgowrie Rams Youth Section and was a superb advert for Youth Rugby in Blairgowrie particularly as this is the 30th Anniversary of Blairgowrie Rugby Club. Hopefully many of these youngsters will continue to play the game of rugby and progress to the senior team thus ensuring that Blairgowrie Rugby Club continues to thrive for at least another 30 years.