Perthshire blown away at Ardrossan

Ardrossan Accies 44 – Perthshire 10

Ardrossan has never been the happiest of hunting grounds for Perthshire during the last few years and this visit certainly did nothing to alter that. They are a club on the up with a thriving and packed clubhouse before and after the game and possess a good mix of youth and experience on the pitch. Shire have plenty of promising young players but lack the experience and hard edge to their play which is required at this level.
A very strong cross wind blew straight from the sea and a lot depended on which team would manage to harness this especially in the lineouts which became a huge lottery. Shire almost took the lead when Armitt’s well struck penalty attempt was blown just wide but this turned to disaster a minute later when Ardrossan took play right into the Shire 22. Perthshire dithered over what to do with the ball while Ardrossan’s pack bore down on them and in the end the ball was dropped allowing the softest of tries to be conceded in the opening minutes.
Gradually the Perth youngsters settled down and the forwards gained the upper hand with strong drives from the likes of James Mair, Ewen MacDonald, Kieran Ramsay and Andy Jack. Ross Goodison and Aidan Watson were real livewires in the backs but try as they might they couldn’t make any holes in the Ardrossan defence. Whenever, Shire travelled to Ardrossan they always face a huge and disciplined scrum but the young front row, with William Campbell in for the injured Blair Twaddell, refused to be bullied and they always gave as good as they got. Kieran Ramsay made a massive bulldozing run which resulted in another Shire penalty and this time Armitt made no mistake for the three points. Although Shire’s forwards could hold their own, the Ardrossan backs were causing all sorts of problems with their hard, fast and direct running. They grabbed their 2nd try on the half hour mark with deft handling to create a two man overlap on the wing as Shire fell off tackles. Perthshire were having real problems trying to keep the errors to a minimum and slack defence allowed Ardrossan to score out wide again for their third try.
Good work and driving by the forwards took Shire right down to the try line and the boys drove a lineout maul right to the Ardrossan line but couldn’t get the ball down. Shire kept up the pressure but once again they lost the ball in contact and this time nearly every Ardrossan player handled the ball as they tore through the spread-eagled Shire defence for the bonus point try. Perthshire’s attacking moves just resulted in the ball moving from side to side with little ground being made but every time Ardrossan mounted an attack their big crowd of supporters sensed something big could happen was spun out at pace. Shire’s woes continued as Aidan Watson had to be taken off at half time with a shoulder injury and Callum Bruce moved from full back to stand off. Ardrossan then began to take a bigger grip of the game and despite some fine individual tackling by some Shire players, the team was no match for the big experienced Ardrossan backs and they ran riot with a further 4 tries. Perthshire struggled to end the game with 15 players as Jay Pettie had to leave the field followed by Andy Jack and a serious knee injury to Dan Rae looks likely to keep him out for a long period. Andy Jack with his dislocated pinkie had to be brought back onto the field to play and hooker Kieran Ramsay had to fill in at centre but in the dying minute Andy Jack grabbed a consolation try for Shire converted by Armitt and Perthshire had 10 points.
This game has posed some real headaches for the coaches due to a mounting injury crisis and the 2nds defeat at Grangemouth. Come on all you Perthshire supporters, get down to the North Inch on Saturday and get behind your teams to give them encouragement as they strive for a first win. The 1st XV face newly relegated Lasswade and the 2nds play Dunfermline who won all of their matches last season.