Orkney 50 – 12 Perthshire

Eagles travel by all means to Orkney but come away empty handed.

Travelling to Orkney always produces logistical nightmares for Team Manager Mark Coupar. In December, the weather can postpone a match so there’s a lot at stake to get the transport & accommodation right. With plans set in motion most of the squad travelled overnight by coach to a hostel in Wick then caught the ferry across the Pentland Firth, while some others took the early flight from Edinburgh to Kirkwall to join the main squad for an earlier 1:15pm kick-off.

At the beginning Perthshire held their own but Orkney opened their account after around 10 minutes of play after ‘Shire were reduced to 14 men, due to repeated penalties while defending their line, and would score twice more a for a 19-0 lead at halftime.

Orkney scored early in the second half then a bad situation became worse as a tackle judged high by the referee warranted a second yellow card for James Armstrong, so he was shown red and ended his match early.

With the man advantage and in control, the Kirkwall team built up a 43-0 lead before Ewen MacDonald could grab a consolation try after a series of drives. Calum Bruce added the extras.

Moments later a mistake on their own lineout throw had ‘Shire defending their try line again from a repeated Orcadian onslaught. This time Aidan Watson read the play and intercepted breaking through and dancing up to halfway before passing to Simon McGarry who sprinted the remaining distance. Caught and stopped just short he stretched to score in the corner.

There was time for one more try by Orkney to end the match 50-12 on the final whistle. Perthshire can take heart from the resolve at the end to score 2 quick tries but will rue the missed opportunities and indiscipline which ultimately were their undoing.

Next week, it’s an away trip to Milngavie where high flying West of Scotland will be looking to continue their winning streak. It’s up to Perthshire to cause the upset, supporters welcome on the bus departing from Bell’s.

The full match recording can be watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7p2T5GMrZA

Outnumbered but not Outgunned

Aberfeldy 79 – 22 Perthshire 2XV

Perthshire put in gutsy performance.

Injuries and last minute call-offs again gave Coach Dave Lewis a nightmare trying to put together a team. Taylor Mair came across from Glasgow to make it a squad of 13 that travelled upstream to Aberfeldy.

Despite being 2 men down it did not show. Aberfeldy had the lion’s share of possession but determined defence and line speed caused no end of trouble for the Home team with multiple knock-ons killing their momentum. Underpowered in a 7 v 8 scrum ‘Shire still held their own throughout.

Aberfeldy tried to speed the game up and utilise their 2 man advantage with quick tap penalties. Wise to this Rab Pittendreigh and Liam Flavell covered back often stopping any break. Ultimately speed & numbers counted as ‘Shire could not contain the attack and the hosts ran in their first 2 tries under the posts.

Eventually ‘Shire got a bit of possession and into the opposition half, when a neat ball went to Jack High who burst through splintering the Aberfeldy defence. Hauled down just shy of the line, ‘Shire controlled it with a few short phases before Jonny Armitt squeezed over. He then converted his try from a difficult angle, 14-7.

The Boars hit back quite quickly; then on the half hour mark bad went to worse as Taylor Mair left the field with a dislocated shoulder. Perthshire had 12 players and 50 minutes of the match to play. Aberfeldy soon scored again to make it 26-7.

With commitment and determination tackles from Shaun Barton, Jonny Armitt and Angus Macpherson pinned Aberfeldy in own half. The pressure was too much and Jonny Armitt won a ruck penalty which he elected to kick and claimed the 3 points, 26-10.

Perthshire’s attack yielded some more penalties as half time approached; a high tackle on Mikey Evans as he jinked through numerous defenders and an offside at the ruck. These were within range for Jonny Armitt but missed both by fine margins. On the counter Aberfeldy managed another try just as the half ended.

Dave Lewis asked for continued determination from the team. Captain Angus Macpherson urged his players to keep up the pressure in defence and force Aberfeldy into errors.

To a large extent Perthshire heeded these calls. Aberfeldy were all over the place in possession. Shaun Barton chief amongst the Black & White shirts in disrupting their flow. He was unlucky not to score next, the referee disallowing the try for a double movement.

With another try in the bag leading 38-10, Aberfeldy sent 2 players across to Perthshire to make it 15 v 14 players.

The game opened up a bit as ‘Shire upped the intensity, however, this was a high risk strategy and when turned over Perthshire were vulnerable with the Aberfeldy fullback in particular taking advantage of the space offered to him as the hosts ran in a further 3 tries, 57-10.

All day, Jack High was hitting his man at the lineout. Following a strong defensive effort again, Perthshire set a lineout in the Aberfeldy 22. Secured ‘Shire played it simple; carries from Angus Macpherson and Bruce Campbell bringing it close to the line before Shaun Barton dived over from short range. Jonny Armitt converted, 57-17.

Aberfeldy hit straight back with a try but then were reduced to 14 men as a yellow card was shown for foul play. Jonny Armitt missed the shot at goal but solid cover defence from Mikey Evans stopped them leaving their own half. Kicked to clear, ‘Shire caught then ran it back but knocked on in the tackle. Determined, Stevie Wilkie & Mark Morgan walked their opposite props back as ‘Shire won this scrum against the head. From the base No. 8 Shaun Barton picked, drew the defence and offloaded to Jonny Armitt to score an unconverted try in the corner.

Unbelievably there was still 13 minutes left for ‘Shire to try and secure the bonus point try. Exhausted from playing numbers down for so long but undeterred they pressed on. Michael Gratzke and Ryan Beaton covered the pitch as between them they seemed to get to most rucks first, providing the platform for attack. Mikey Evans had another break but was caught just as it seemed to be on.

The last say went to Aberfeldy who had little possession this period but would counter effectively to score 3 more tries and leave it with a 79-22 score line at full time.

Perthshire despite always down 1, 2 or 3 men gave Aberfeldy a game for 80 minutes. Every player in Black & White put in a performance and with a full complement the result would have been very different.

There’s one more 2XV match before Christmas, as Bannockburn visit the North on Saturday. Supporters welcome to cheer on the 2s, kick-off is at 2pm.

Photos taken by Chloe Billimore (Aberfeldy RFC).