Seven Try Romp for Blairgowrie

Saturday 8th Sep, Blairgowrie RFC kicked off their new season with a home tie against Carnoustie RFC. Having failed to beat Carnoustie in their previous two league games Blairgowrie knew this was going to be a difficult game and having been led onto the pitch by mascot for the day Fraser Black.

It was the home team who applied the early pressure with some excellent handling by both the backs and the forwards. This early pressure was soon rewarded when stand off Euan Ireland making a welcome return to the Blairgowrie team broke through the Carnoustie defence to offload the ball to the supporting Neil MacRae who scored under the posts ably converted by Stephen Souter. With Carnoustie missing two penalties in quick succession Blairgowrie added a second try midway through the first half after Gordon Black had 'assaulted' the Carnoustie full back causing him to spill the ball and allowing Euan Ireland to pick up and score under the posts. Converted by Stephen Souter. Carnoustie then successfully kicked a penalty which was then quickly followed by arguably the try of the match when Timmy Watson collected a pass in the middle of the field at pace and proceeded to evade at least 5 tackles to score in the corner. Conveted by Stephen Souter.

Half time score: Blairgowrie 21 Carnoustie 3.

From the restart it was Carnoustie who went into the attack and only some good Blairgowrie defence and some excellent clearances by Euan Ireland prevented them from crossing the try line. With both sides successfully kicking a penalty each it was Blairgowrie who were next to score after some quick thinking by the evergreen Cally Gordon who took a quick tap penalty to score under the posts. Converted by Stephen Souter. Within minutes Cally Gordon was to add another try after a quick lineout ball from Neil MacRae to captain Kev Brown who in turn passed the ball to Cally to score under the posts. Converted by Stephen Souter. At this point Blairgowrie looked as if they could score at will but Carnoustie to their credit continued to battle on and only a try saving tackle by debutant Ben Wilson prevented them from scoring in the corner. With minutes of the match remaining Stephen Souter added another two tries, the first following a long pass from Euan Ireland and the second try following some excellent driving by the Blairgowrie pack releasing Peter Duncan who floated a beautiful overhead pass to Stephen to score under the posts which he duly converted to give him a personal tally of 25 points for the afternoon.

Final score of Blairgowrie 50 Carnoustie 11.

This was an excellent start to the new season with every member of the squad contributing to the win with Gavin Wynd slotting into the scrum half position for the first time with ease. It was clearly evident from the play that all the hard work that the players and coaches Peter Ireland and Ian Robertson have put in during the close season has been worthwhile. Credit must also go to referee Chris Webster who handled the game superbly and ensured that any misdemeanour was acted on immediately.

Selecting the man of the match award proved particularly difficult as practically all the players were in contention for the points but at the end of the day the Man of the Match points were awarded to Euan Ireland-3 points, Neil MacRae -2 points and Ewen Morrison 1 point.

Team: James Buchanan, Timmy Watson, Euan Constable, Ewen Morrison, Neil MacRae, Duncan Campbell, Kev Brown (capt), Gavin Wynd, Euan Ireland, Al Robertson, Peter Duncan, Fraser Bissett, Michael Black, Stephen Souter, Kev Chrichton, Jackie Cockburn, Ben Wilson, Ross Parsons, Cally Gordon. This Saturday (15th) Blairgowrie travel to Kingussie to take on Strathspey RFC who will provide strong opposition having secured a number of wins in their first league campaign last season. Travel arrangements will be announced at training on Thursday. Training continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.00 at the JJ Coupar Park. New players welcome. Correction from the Kinross match report. Fraser Bissett was Man of the Match.