All Go but All Square after Gripping 80 Minutes
Perthshire 26 – 26 Murrayfield Wanderers
Perthshire regroup and fight back to secure draw.
Both teams arrived at the North Inch eager to play rugby; and as has been consistent this season the supporters down on the North Inch were treated to an exciting, enthralling game of rugby in which the momentum swung back and forth between two evenly matched teams.
Following the kick-off neither team could make the breakthrough. Defence was resolute and Murrayfield were able to repel surging runs from Kyle MacKinnon and darting snipes from Aidan Watson. In defence James Mair and Shaun Barton were shutting down anything Murrayfield tried.
With about 10 minutes on the clock ‘Shire had a lineout 30m out. Quickly delivered off the top, Andrew Sanderson passed to Aidan Watson who ran a sweet loop around the centres creating an extra man to give Jonny Armitt the ball and a 2 on 1. Armitt ran on enough to interest the defender then sent a long pass out to Jay Pettie who took his chance brilliantly sprinting the remaining 20m to score in the corner. Despite the circling wind Calum Bruce made the tricky conversion to lead 7-0.
Perthshire’s receipt off the restart has given coaches Alan Clark & Kenny Christie nightmares all season and so it proved again. Knocked on, Murrayfield were awarded a scrum and an immediate chance to strike back. From this platform Wanderers were patient, slowly building the phases in the forwards until a gap opened in midfield which was exploited to give them their first converted try of the match.
Now it became very one-sided. Murrayfield were in the ascendancy and Perthshire went AWOL. Only some desperate defending by Angus Walker and Ross Goodison relieved the intense pressure. Perthshire missed touch with a clearance kick presenting an open backfield into which the Wanderers’ wing chipped & chased into. He hacked on again, just pipping the retreating ‘Shire defence to score under the posts and take the lead 7-14.
It went from bad to worse, for the team in Black & White. The bounce of the ball was going Murrayfield’s way and Shire were making life very difficult for themselves. Kicks failed to find touch or the chase was poor, tackles were missed and possession rapidly squandered. Twice denied after resolute defence of lineout mauls, Murrayfield took their third try after building patiently from a scrum within the 22. Unconverted and with 25 minutes on the clock they had a 7-19 point lead. Worse for the Eagles, early try scorer Jay Pettie was forced off the field with a knee injury.
This team has changed under Mat Rae’s leadership and the work of Alan Clark & Kenny Christie. In seasons gone by the rot would have continued and ‘Shire would have softened up allowing more scores in. Instead a switch seems to have gone on and ‘Shire took the game to Wanderers.
Winning a scrum in the midfield the forwards set a solid platform. Aidan Watson noticed the defence was flat and collected his own chip over the top to get in behind. Multiple phases followed, the forwards putting in hard carries; with a penalty advantage Aidan Watson sent a high ball into the in-goal area. It bounced off the outstretched hands of the Murrayfield fullback into the arms of Ross Goodison to touch down for an unconverted try on the stroke of half-time; 12-19.
Continuing in this vein Perthshire flew out of the blocks in the second half. Stuart Magill & Dan Rae were like demons tackling to bring down the heavy runners, meanwhile the back row of Calum Chalmers, James Mair and Shaun Barton were contesting every ruck turning many and giving Murrayfield no platform to attack.
The pressure was relentless. Scott Alcorn found the space in behind his opposite number on the wing with a precise kick through. Given the chance of trying to out manoeuvre Alcorn or head into touch, the wing took the latter. From the attacking lineout the Eagles turned the screw. Barrelling carries from Ewen MacDonald and Kyle MacKinnon forced a penalty. Opting for the scrum Perthshire were dominant, the ball was released and sent quickly through the hands to reach Mat Rae who used his strength & speed to better his opposite man and score. Calum Bruce brought it level to 19-19 with the conversion.
The game was tense, but ‘Shire were still on the front foot. Angus Walker was playing out of his skin to keep the ball moving forward, Dan Rae continued to put in the big hits and Aidan Watson was controlling things with Andrew Sanderson at the back of rucks. Penalties started mounting against Murrayfield, Calum Bruce just pulled wide in an effort to go ahead. Then moments later with Wanderers marched back for ill-discipline ‘Shire spurned the chance of an easier 3 points to go for the scrum. This time, the scrum buckled and Murrayfield countered. It was a quick attack and they made it right into the Perthshire 22 until they were stopped.
The match then descended in to a real end-to-end affair. Ross Goodison with only one boot danced and battered his way 60m up the touchline before stopped by a high tackle. Breaks were made by Mat Rae, Scott Alcorn, Calum Bruce and Claude Millée too, but each time something conspired to stop progress and Murrayfield attacked right back down the pitch.
After one such Perthshire foray, Murrayfield had a defending scrum inside their 22. Somehow from first phase they found an opening in the centre and managed to run through getting the ball in behind the Black & White defensive line. Spun out to the wing the cover defence was beaten and, against the run of play with 15 minutes left, Murrayfield were ahead 19-26.
A response was needed and Shaun Barton delivered with a stunning catch of the restart to put Perthshire into a strong attacking position. It was slow progress, maybe guilty of kicking possession away too readily rather than building up field the Eagles could not find the edge needed to draw level. The penalty count against Murrayfield crept ever higher, eventually the referee sent the openside flanker to the sin bin for the remainder of the match.
Still the pressure built and the penalties came their way but Perthshire could not cross the line. Finally, the forwards took it upon themselves and slowly but surely crawled up the hard metres until just enough space opened for, Man of the Match, Aidan Watson to show & go then score the bonus point try in the last minute.
With no time left on the clock at 24-26, Calum Bruce stepped up to take the conversion. The 2 points would earn the draw. Coolly he slotted it over and there was great relief all around that Perthshire had the points to reflect the performance on the pitch.
This was the second meeting of these teams this season. At the away fixture Murrayfield Wanderers introduced the Adam Pattinson Memorial Cup which is to be contested each time these two teams play. Ads was a big man in Scottish Rugby who inspired many and it was great to see some of the family down to watch and Claire Pattinson present the trophy jointly to both captains in recognition of the draw.
Due to the Autumn Internationals there was no 2XV fixture. Next week the 1XV travel to Hillhead to play in the rescheduled match with an 11am kick-off. Supporters welcome on the bus but beware, it is an early 7:30am departure.
Photos taken by Peter Wilkinson and Heather Kirkman.
