Howe of Fife-teen
Perthshire 5 – 99 Howe of Fife
Eagles struggle as they concede 15 tries.
The last home match for Perthshire this season, was a rescheduled fixture against Howe of Fife from 17th December when the big freeze made the ground unplayable. A series of recent injuries and unavailability due to the Easter holidays meant it was a mammoth task on behalf of the coaches to put out a squad.
Calls went out and the likes of Rab Pittendreigh, Declan O’Brien and Callum Coutts (who ran a marathon the day before) came to pull on a 1XV jersey for the first time in ages. Colts player Ben Marshall stood up to make an impressive debut in Senior rugby and there were 1XV debuts for Ross Alexander and Laurence Knight, the latter who rose to the occasion to producing a Man-of-the-Match performance.
Howe of Fife are on an upward trajectory and clearly were still on top form after felling runaway league leaders Gordonians last weekend. Coming out of the blocks fast and with a ruthless instinct they rushed into a 0-54 lead at half-time.
Perthshire heads did not go down, the team reshuffling after injuries to Jack High and then Aidan Watson. In spells Perthshire could meet Howe and challenge them: tackles from Dan Rae and Laurence Knight stopped the Cupar backline getting through; carries from Angus Walker and Mat Rae would make deep in-roads; James Mair and Ben Marshall seemed to cover all over the pitch in defence & attack; and Simon McGarry was on hand to clear a ruck or jackal over a Howe player.
These individual flashes though, failed to gain momentum with Howe of Fife running in their 15th try as the final 5 minutes approached. There was time left for Perthshire to steal a try, Lewis Murrie taking short penalties as Howe infringed to get the ball right up to the try line. The scrumhalf brought on his forwards as they inched ever closer. Eventually the power of Angus Walker broke through the defensive wall as he stretched to touch down. For good measure, as the referee pondered the grounding, Captain Mat Rae put his hands on the ball to make certain of the score. The try was awarded, a small compensation for a chastening day on the North Inch.
There is a break next weekend for the 1s and then a journey to Whitecraigs on 22nd April will conclude the league season. This should be a much more competitive match, ‘Shire lost by 2 points at the home fixture in October and will be aiming to avenge this and end the year on a high. Player availability should be better as Head Coach Alan Clark selects his final team before standing down.
Photos taken by Peter Wilkinson.
