Saturday 21 Jan 12, the Blairgowrie senior squad travelled to Fife for their RBS Caledonia Division II league match against St Andrews University. With the students currently sitting in second place in the league one point behind league leaders Grangemouth RFC this was always going to be a stiff test for the Blairgowrie boys.

However from the kick it was Blairgowrie who enjoyed most of the possession in the first quarter of the match playing some of the best rugby they have played this season. With less than ten minutes on the clock Blairgowrie secured a lineout ball on the students 22 metre line and after 5 phases of good rucking and mauling by the Blair forwards wing forward Russell Edward drove over the try line to put Blairgowrie into an early lead with Stephen Souter adding the conversion.

From the restart young John Cockburn playing at full back for the senior squad for the first time collected the high ball and proceeded to make a superb break through the students defence before offloading to centre Fraser Maxwell who took the ball at pace only to be tap tackled by a St Andrews defender just as it looked as if Blairgowrie were going to extend their early lead.

With Blairgowrie then failing to convert a penalty the students slowly came more into the game scoring two well taken penalties and a try just before the interval after some poor tackling by the Blairgowrie defence. Half time St Andrews 13 Blairgowrie 7.

From the restart Blairgowrie failed to clear their lines with the students scoring a converted try within minutes of the restart. Despite this early set back Blairgowrie continued to play some good rugby with forwards and backs combining well but on too many occasions losing possession due to simple errors.
As the game progressed the students came more into the game scoring two more converted tries towards the end of the game to make the final score St Andrews 32 Blairgowrie 7.

This was a  spirited display by the Blairgowrie squad with the scoreline perhaps not doing justice to some of the good work done by both forwards and backs particularly in the first half. This hopefully bodes well for the remainder of the season with five of the remaining seven league matches at home at the J J Coupar Park.

Team: Ewan Constable, Mike Lee, Timmy Watson, Mark Reddin, Peter Duncan, Russell Edward, Ryan Walker, Neil MacRae, Gavin Wynd, Stephen Souter, Fraser Maxwell, Michael Black, Ally Crerar, Craig Thoms, John Cockburn, Al Guild, Ben MacDonald, Stewart Flatley, Stevie Stewart.

 Man of the match points were awarded as follows; Fraser Maxwell & Michael Black – 1 point each, Mike Lee – 2 points and Russell Edwards – 3 points and the Man of the Match.

This Saturday (28th) Blairgowrie welcome Panmure to the J J Coupar Park – 2.00 kick off. Training continues on Tuesday and Thursdays at 7.0 pm at the J J Coupar Park. New players welcome.