Fighting Spirit to the Fore as Pettie Grabs Last Gasp Victory for Shire
Perthshire 28 – 24 Strathmore
The Perthshire family bade a final farewell to their captain, friend and teammate on Thursday and although Adam is no longer with us in body it is clear that part of his soul lives on in every single one of the players. From being down and almost out, trailing by 17 points after 45 minutes, Perthshire dug deep, found a new resolve and rallied to a thrilling finish to snatch a last-minute victory and break the hearts of their Forfar rivals.
Strathmore started the game looking very sharp and their forwards dominated the breakdown being a yard or so quicker than the Shire boys which gave their backs good quick ball but thankfully, Shire’s defence stood firm against the onslaught with Pete Saunders responsible for some big hits. Shire dominated the scrums but the lineout was fairly dodgy at times with Kieran Ramsay once again showing his versatility this time playing number 7 but also throwing the ball in at the lineout. Shire had their chances in the opening exchanges but the passes were just not going to hand and Strathmore opened the scoring when Dan Jones crashed through several players to score out wide.
Strathmore were guilty of giving away numerous penalties though, and this enabled Shire to gain territory with Clow and MacDonald making good inroads but Strathmore excelled in dislodging ball to counterattack. Jonny Armitt made a lovely clear break which was taken on by the rest of the backs but again it fizzled out when the ball was lost in contact. Despite some rampaging runs by James Mair and Kieran Ramsay and dynamic runs by Mat Rae and Jay Pettie on the wings, Shire couldn’t retain possession long enough to test the visitors. Strathmore extended their lead when full back Burgess sliced through the defence to score. At times it looked as though Perthshire’s players were heeding Government advice about self-isolation but this had nothing to do with the coronavirus and just resulted in players becoming isolated with no support and being penalised for holding on to the ball.
Shire managed to end the half without conceding any more points but the 2nd half started ominously as Strathmore won a penalty, drove into Shire’s defence and quick ball was spun out to centre Kiely who stormed over for a 17 point lead. It fell to Shire skipper Ryan Miller to stop the rot and transform the game. Strathmore were in full attack mode when the former Jed man read the move and intercepted a pass to race through the startled opposition for a game turning touchdown. Jonny Armitt slotted the conversion and Shire were back in the hunt.
By now, the referee had had enough of Strathmore’s infringements and produced a yellow card. Perthshire’s players sniffed blood and all of a sudden the forwards attacked the breakdown quicker and with more numbers, the passing in the backs was crisper and smarter; and egged on by the supporters, players started to believe in themselves again. Another yellow card was produced by the referee as Strathmore conceded several more penalties and the Eagles took full advantage. A beautiful delayed pass from Miller put the onrushing Armitt in space and the full back split the Strathmore defence as he dived over. He converted his own try to make it 14-17.
The game was turned on its head now as both teams battled away in one of the most exciting games seen here for a long time. Strathmore had Shire at sixes & sevens following a series of attacking moves and when they spread the ball to the left touchline, not enough Shire boys managed across to cover and despite a last ditch Pettie tackle, Strathmore had their 10 point lead restored. The coaches started making some changes and the injured Aidan Watson was replaced by Jack McIntosh at scrum half who injected fresh pace to the proceedings and gave good quick ball to get the fast men outside moving. Shire’s front row were performing heroics and with Duncan Clow and Andy Jack producing the grunt in the 2nd row this was one area where Perthshire had complete domination.
The backs were now stretching Strathmore’s defence and the back three of Rae, Armitt and Pettie had pace to burn. Ignoring a three man overlap out wide, Miller cut back inside to release Peter Saunders who took the ball with unstoppable pace and power to score under the posts. The Perth boys were now trailing by 21 -24 and with 20 minutes left to play it was anybody’s game. Ryan Miller delivered a neat chip over the heads of the onrushing Strath defence before collecting it and feeding Mat Rae but a last-ditch tackle prevented the try. Jonny Armitt was next to try his luck but again he was denied by the cover defence.
Strathmore were falling foul of the referee’s whistle and Shire took full advantage by pressing forward at every opportunity. The only unit which wasn’t functioning properly was the lineout but the guts and determination shown by every player was well appreciated by the large crowd. Pete Saunders was denied a try and Blair Twaddell, who was having an excellent game as well, was halted in the process of planting the ball down for what would have been the winning try. Shire were throwing everything but the kitchen sink into winning this match and won a penalty in front of the posts in what would probably be the last move of the game. Take the kick at goal and earn 2 points for a draw or risk all and go for the try? Shire elected to go for the try. The forwards drove on, sucking in players before the ball was scooped up by Ryan Miller who found Peter Saunders and he released it to Jay Pettie, screaming for the ball outside him, and the flying winger dived his full length in the corner to secure the 4th (bonus point) try and thus earn a 5 point victory with the last play of the match.
Strathmore were devastated at losing their comfortable lead but the sight of Perthshire supporters running onto the field at the end of the match and the jubilant celebrations of the home team was a sight to behold and brought back memories of past glories on the North Inch. Many thanks to all the supporters for turning out in numbers, including the sponsors, I & H Brown, the many former players and the Perthshire Women’s and Girls players.
Rugby has now closed down until 29th March when the SRU will provide an update on whether the season will restart.
Photos taken by Peter Wilkinson.
