West of Scotland 36 – 24 Perthshire
West recover in second half to deny a Perthshire upset.
Injuries from last weekend and other unavailability made selection a challenge for the 1XV this week. Unfortunately, such was the shortage of players the 2XV match against Rosyth was postponed. Even the regular coaches were unable to make it so Director of Rugby, Graham “Smudge” Smith, was tasked with taking the squad down to Milngavie.
Perthshire kicked off and immediately put West of Scotland under pressure, the ‘Shire defence winning a turnover. The ball was shipped to the right wing before returning back inside to the centre field. A half break then offload put the ball into the hands of Calum Chalmers who got clean through and close to the posts before getting stopped. The forward pack then piled in with short carries, Rhys Darlington millimetres short before Andrew Sanderson used the momentum to squeeze over for a converted try.
Soon after the restart aggressive defence won the turnover again. The penalty was kicked into the 22. Sadly, second row turned centre for the day, Tom Bartlett went over his ankle and that ended his match early. Jack McIntosh came in on the wing allowing Aidan Watson into the centre. West managed to disrupt the ball and cleared their lines.
The home team got a hold of the ball and started to put a few phases together but Adrian Venter had other ideas and stole the ball at ruck time. Perthshire kicked the ball down the other end, Dan Rae won possession and ran into the 22. After a few short plays a crossfield kick went out, Calum MacDonald was beaten to it by West, but the defender was swiftly bundled into touch. Securing the ball ‘Shire quickly opened the assault on the try line. Adrian Venter went close then Andrew Sanderson got quick ball and passed it to stand off Mat Rae who went over. Conversion missed Perthshire led 0-12.
West were rattled and in all sorts of bother. The line-speed and discipline from ‘Shire had them flustered. Simon McGarry pounced on a ball fumbled by West and sprinted from the halfway into the 22 and was just hauled down with 10m to go. Isolated, West went in for the jackal but knocked it on giving ‘Shire a strong attacking platform. The ball delivered from the base of the scrum went out wide but Perthshire then knocked on and West were able to relieve the pressure.
That relief was short lived as Perthshire patiently built up another attack. Straight hard running from Dan Rae & James Mair ate ever deeper into West’s territory. The forwards then took a few short balls, Rhys Darlington burrowing through, pumping his legs to earn extra yards & suck in more panicked defenders. This created space out wide and a beautifully weighted cross field kick sailed into the arms of Jack McIntosh on the right wing where he dotted down for the Eagles’ 3rd try.
This spurred the Burnbrae outfit into action. Perthshire were penalised for crossing and West kicked for the lineout. Clinically, they took it down and created, then exploited, an overlap in the wide channel to open their scoring.
Before the half ended West added a second, Perthshire had eased off a bit and from a scrum the West backs took it to the wing before offloading to an inside runner who’s angle made the gap and got in under the posts for a converted try. The half-time whistle went with Perthshire ahead, 12-17.
It was a breath-taking first half and the message from Smudge to the players was to continue to back each other and believe that they could see it out, score more tries and cause the upset.
West of Scotland had different ideas and with the home crowd becoming impatient they soon won them back. Running back then returning the restart kick, West contested it in the air and, though neither team caught it, the bounce went to the Home side. Some fast hands whisked it out to the wing where it was raced to the corner to level, 17-17.
Perthshire were overkeen to regain the ball and were penalised at the ruck for not rolling away. West kicked into the 22 and winning the lineout pulled in the forwards with a maul then sent it out to the backline who could pick their hole. Crashing over and making the conversion West of Scotland were ahead, 24-17.
Still undeterred, Perthshire continued the hard press and when West dropped the ball Perthshire kicked it though. Giving chase John Kelly hacked it on again and as it bobbled up to the line went to collect. He dived as a West defender went to kick it and took a nasty full boot to the ankle. The referee judged it accidental but stopped play due to the injury. Reset at a scrum under the posts No. 8 James Mair picked from the base and went forwards. As he was held he slipped the ball inside to flanker Calum Chalmers who made it to the line. Adding the conversion the Eagles were back level, 24-24.
Despite the minutes on the clock the pace of the match continued. West of Scotland next to score as Perthshire compounded a few penalties and West took them quickly and stretched the defence with an unconverted try in the corner.
The momentum swung back to the men in Black & White as West were pinned back in their own half by aggressive defence, Shaun Barton & Angus Walker prominent in bringing down the home players . A chance came as Adrian Venter charged down an attempted kick but then ‘Shire knocked on trying to claim the ball. From the scrum West kick went into touch and Perthshire took the lineout was taken quickly. The counterattack was on but ended with the ball passed into touch. Minutes later Aidan Watson ran back a kick, chipped the defence but was knocked of balancing chasing and the momentum swung back to West.
Hampered by multiple penalties ‘Shire were firmly on the backfoot defending their line. West repeatedly tried the lineout maul but each time were stopped, sometimes illegally sometimes fairly. The visitors perhaps lucky not to see a man sent to the sin bin. Try as they might, Perthshire could not properly break the siege.
Then it looked to have ended. Will Campbell ripped the ball from West hands in a subsequent lineout maul and handed the ball to Calum Chalmers. The flanker tore up the touchline before punting ahead. West just got to it first and were swiftly brought down. Going for the turnover Perthshire were then penalised as the tackler had not rolled quickly enough.
This time West again went to the corner, took the lineout, set the maul and eventually pulled it off. This converted try to put the game beyond doubt with 3 minutes left to play.
Knowing one more try would secure a losing bonus point, on top of the try bonus point already in the bag, Perthshire pushed on one more time. A hard press from the restart kick had West in disarray. Taking advantage Angus Walker intercepted a loose offload and then passed it on to Mat Rae. The attack went forward and ‘Shire lined up to take it on the next phases. However, too many players were eager and all going for the ball got in each other’s way and it was dropped.
The referee blew for fulltime and the Burnbrae crowd heaved a massive sigh of relief. They had not expected such a stern test from Perthshire, the teams being opposite ends of the league table. Despite players out of position and some stepping up from the 2XV each player wearing Black & White put in the best performance they could. Smudge rightly told the players to keep that ethic and work hard over training, to get results in the remaining 2 league matches.
This Saturday Howe of Fife make the short trip from Cupar to the North Inch. All supporters welcome and encouraged to support at the final home match of the season, the Bowling Club will be open from 1:30pm, ahead of the 3pm kick off.
Photographs taken by Ewan MacKessack-Leitch
No April fools, Semi-Finals here we come!!
Perthshire Women 31 – 17 Stornoway
The Perthshire Women’s team played Stornoway on Saturday 1st April. The game kicked off at 2.15pm on the North Inch pitch, the weather being slightly chilly but perfect for a great game of rugby.
Stornoway started off strong putting pressure on Perthshire straight away. The first 10 minutes of the game was all within Perthshire’s half. Strong carries from the Stornoway forwards and great movement of the ball brought some early chances for them, but it was the defensive efforts from key players such as Claire Rae, Suzanne Rennie and Rebecca Bond, that kept Stornoway from scoring. Some brilliant tackling pushed Stornoway back to half way but still with possession they looked very strong. However, Perthshire’s patience paid off when Alex Ward intercepted the ball at pace, running down to within the 22. This spurred on Perthshire, and after a few passes and recycling of the ball, Alex Ward went over for the first try 14 minutes into the game, converting her own kick making the score 7-0.
This didn’t dishearten the visitors though, who again put great pressure on Perthshire in their own half. Knock-on’s from both sides saw the scrums being put to work, both teams putting in great efforts, the growls from the Perthshire squad pushing forward to get the upper hand. After a few scrums from both sides and some static play within the middle of the field, Alex Ward’s fancy footwork managed to find a gap and again Perthshire were running towards the try line. An unfortunate knock on just a couple of metres out meant Stornoway had the ball at the scrum. Strong defensive work again, Perthshire regained possession and Paula Watson’s passing put Alex Ward over for her second. The try successfully converted, score to 14-0 at 28 minutes.
A lovely chip kick from Alex Ward saw Jackie McConville have a nice run on to the ball, but Stornoway’s defensive work and pressure took back possession. Stornoway came back into Perthshire’s half with wave after wave of strong running from their forwards. Perthshire’s ill-discipline allowed for a few penalties to help Stornoway’s momentum, and just before half time the visitors scored in the corner. A good effort by the kicker however it was not converted. Halftime score 14-5 to Perthshire.
The second half saw some replacements from Perthshire including Danni Henderson, who instantly made an impact. A great scrum from Perthshire combined with great passing saw Danni go over to score a try 3 minutes into the second half. A great effort by Alex Ward again, but this time not converted, 19-5 at 43 minutes.
Stornoway came back though, with some great running from their forwards and work from their scrum half, putting pressure on Perthshire for a long time in the 22. Perthshire regained possession a couple of times, but were unable to get out of their half because of good defensive work and solid play from Stornoway. Some interlinking play between wingers and fullback saw a decent second try from Stornoway under the posts. This time the conversion was successful and the score line was close at 19-12.
Stornoway now seeing the possibility of bringing the scores level, had a bit between their teeth and were fighting with everything they had. Again, they kept pressure in the Perthshire 22 for a long time, but Perthshire’s discipline had improved, regaining possession at a crucial time. A clearing kick from Alex Ward chased expertly by Danni Henderson and Katie Whelan put pressure on Stornoway who knocked it on. After another dominate scrum, Paula Watson took the ball from the back of the scrum, with a beautiful pass to the already at pace Alex Ward, her speed and weaving, along with a great support line from Heather Kirkman that kept the defence guessing, meant it was near impossible to stop. Alex Ward scores her hattrick and the conversion is good. Score 26-12.
With 12 minutes to go, tired bodies on both sides but both teams very much still in the game. A few knock-ons again saw the game slow just slightly. Perthshire seemed to get a spark all of a sudden, as their forwards took crash ball after crash ball breaking the gain line over and over again. Strong carries from Sarah Blackwood, Becky Hunter and Fiona Gordon seem to put Perthshire on the front foot once again. This play brought defensive effort from Stornoway to a central position on the field, seeing this the backs shouted for the ball and got it wide, breaking up the field for some fast running. Alex Ward went over for her 4th try of the day under the posts. Stornoway put on a lot of pressure and noise as she attempted to score the conversion, which put her off just enough. Score 31-12.
The visitors had a fantastic game and finished it off with a try at very last minute. Some great passing to the wide channels, scoring in the corner. Final score Perthshire 31-17 Stornoway.
Perthshire Women are now through to the National Bowl Semi-finals to be played on 23rd April, having won 2 out of their 3 bowl matches. A fantastic team effort lead by amazing co-captains Heather McKenzie and Alex Ward, along with coach/player Iona Coutts.
Photos taken by Dave Morgan Pix (dmpix.net)
