Rugby: Blairgowrie shake off the cobwebs

Jan 27 2010

Montrose 10 Blairgowrie 19

HAVING not played a competitive match since December 12 the Blairgowrie senior squad welcomed a return to league action when they travelled to Montrose on Saturday (January 23) for their Scottish Hydro Electric Caledonia League Division II match.

Despite having beaten Montrose fairly comfortably earlier in the season Blairgowrie knew that this would be a difficult game having not played for over six weeks.

Within two minutes of the kick-off Stephen Souter put Blairgowrie into an early lead with a well taken penalty and minutes later he added a second penalty after the home side had been deemed to be offside.

With conditions wet and cold both sets of players struggled to make any impact on the game with the ball being continually knocked on thus preventing any passing rugby to take place.

Midway through the first half some poor handling by the Blairgowrie backs in their own half allowed Montrose to gain possession with their winger scoring in the corner but Blairgowrie were quick to respond with another Stepehen Souter penalty.

With both teams struggling to produce any attacking rugby some excellent work by Blairgowrie’s lock forward Mark Reddin and back row forward Kev Brown saw the ball being offloaded to Ally Walker who ran from the half way line to score under the posts, converted by Stephen Souter. The half time score was Montrose 5, Blairgowrie 16.

The second half proved to be a dour affair with Blairgowrie’s only score coming from a Stephen Souter penalty. With the light fading and both players and supporters willing the final whistle, Montose broke clear to score their second try of the match to make the final score Montrose 10 Blairgowrie 19.

This was certainly not a match for the rugby purist but credit to both teams who battled it out in not the most favourable conditions. It was however evident that some Blairgowrie players were still  recovering from the excesses of the festive season so it is imperative that all players attend training on Tuesday and Thursday in preparation for the coming weeks.

Following the match captain Gavin Wynd thanked the referee and Montrose for a hard fought game and Montrose RFC for their hospitality. Special mention was also made to Blairgowrie ‘senior’ players Jake Cockburn and Gordon Black who were both playing for the fourth decade having started playing for Blairgowrie in the early 80’s.

While it was difficult for coaches Alan Webster and Peter Ireland to select a man of the match, the  points were awarded as follows: Stephen Souter one point, Neil MacRae two points, and Kev Brown three points and the man of the match award.

Blairgowrie – Jake Cockburn, Rory Philip, Alan Clarke, Ewen Morrison, Mickey Todd, Mark Reddin, Neil MacRae, Kev Brown, John Cockburn, Gavin Wynd, Peter Duncan, Fraser Bissett, Liam MacLaren, Ally Walker, Stephen Souter, Al Guild, Liam Tweedie, Michael Black, Gordon Black, Euan Constable.

This weekend Blairgowrie travel to Fife to play Waid Academy FP’s. There will be a bus going to Anstruther so there will be some spaces available for supporters who wish to travel with the team.