Close and Pushing All the Way

Perthshire 0 – 10 Hillhead Jordanhill

After a long battle on the North Inch, Shire just lose in the end.

Considering this was Perthshire’s first competitive game since the defeat to Howe on 27th November this was an enthralling game and both teams went at each other hammer and tongs for the full 80 minutes, or 95 minutes, depending on whose watch you were looking at.

Hillhead had the majority of possession in the 1st half but seldom has a Perthshire team exhibited so much passion and skill in defence as time after time they repelled everything Hillhead could throw at them. Shire suffered an early injury blow when James Armstrong, who was making his comeback after injury, was carted off in the first 5 minutes resulting in a reshuffle of the backs. Jonny Armitt, celebrating his birthday with a confident and excellent all round display, made an early bone crunching tackle to save a certain try and this set the tone for the rest of the game. Shire’s forwards stepped up to the plate and with the front 5 doing all the unheralded work to contain Hillhead, the back row of Chalmers, Mair and man of the match Matt Jenns ensured that every ball was contested and they gave no ground to the strong Hillhead pack.

It was all desperate backs to the wall stuff and the referee seemed to be penalising Shire every time they went near the ball and if Hillhead had opted for kicks at goal instead of trying to score tries all the time they could well have been out of sight at half time. With a half time score of 0 – 0 people could have been excused if they were thinking this was a dull boring game but it was anything but.

Kieran Ramsay brought fresh impetus to the forwards when he came on and the return of Armstrong who had shaken off his earlier injury went on to the wing and brought a new attacking threat to Shire. As a result, Perthshire had a much more attacking presence as the game went on and tested the Hillhead defence with their strong running.

Mat Rae was proving a handful and young Andrew Sanderson like all good scrum halves was scrapping away with his opposite number at every opportunity and providing good ball for the backs. Ross Goodison was full of elusive running and James Armstrong was causing all sorts of damage on the wing. Unfortunately, he was yellow carded on 50 minutes for an innocuous offence and Shire had to dig even deeper. It was good to see a Perthshire team exhibiting such a fighting resolve and there was no way they were going to lie down to the pressure coming from Hillhead.

Perthshire scored what would have been a monumental try and every player on the park along with the spectators were certain that the try was good but the one man who mattered, the referee, didn’t award it although the photographic evidence certainly looked to support Shire’s view.

Shire’s forwards grew stronger as the game progressed and a yellow card for Hillhead’s French hooker added to the impetus although they then reverted to uncontested scrums which nullified Shire’s advantage somewhat. Just as it looked as though a draw was inevitable Hillhead at last broke the Shire defence to score. The clock then seemed to tick on well past the 80 minutes and a further devastating blow to Shire’s players was another late try to rob them of the losing bonus point.

To come away from this encounter with nothing to show for it was a huge disappointment but everyone in the squad can take credit for a fighting display and if this form can be repeated away from home, then there should be a strong finish to the season for the mighty Shire.

The 2XV were also in action for the first time in 2022 away at Grangemouth 2XV. The team started well and were unlucky to go down 5-0 after about 10 minutes. The Eagles then conceded a second try before a quick tap, followed by forward carries in midfield, allowed space to release Rabson Chipakupaku out to score. The final 10 minutes of the half were dominated by Perthshire but they couldn’t turn the pressure into points and were down 10-5 at the break.

In the second half, the 2s lost structure and confidence shipping some easy tries before a late rally when a lineout maul surged forward allowing Arran Sheach to crash over and score Perthshire’s second try. The match ended 27 – 10 in Grangemouth 2XV’s favour.

Next weekend Perthshire travel to West of Scotland for the first double header shared with the Women’s team, supporters welcome on the teams’ bus. The 2s host Dunfermline 2XV at the North Inch with a 2pm kick-off, all welcome to come and cheer on the 2s!

Photos taken by Peter Wilkinson.