Perthshire Tire as Berwick Fire Up

Perthshire 7 – 64 Berwick

Season ends on the North Inch, as a work in progress.

After numerous ups & downs the 1XV League season came to an end on the North Inch. The squad should be commended for their resilience in the face of a whole manner of problems, not least COIVD-19 which disrupted the season multiple times. Now safely in the League for next year the mission for the 1s was to enjoy playing rugby and see if an upset was possible against promotion chasing Berwick.

Certainly in the first 30 minutes Perthshire were more than a match for Berwick. Keen defence and solid set piece were holding their own. Berwick were forced into mistakes and turnovers. Calum Chalmers and Matt Jenns particularly impressive at the breakdown generally disrupting Berwick and securing turnovers.

Aidan Watson and Lewis Murrie continued to build their 9/10 partnership and set up some promising attacks, that just came short. The referee’s interpretation of the goal-line drop out not helping. Later on, awarded a lineout within 10m Perthshire were caught in an accidental offside trap in the following maul. The scrums were solid, Captain for the day Ewen MacDonald, Will Campbell and Rhys Darlington getting the edge over their opposite front rowers.

Slowly but surely Berwick began to soak up the pressure and show their promotion credentials. Coming close to the line the score seemed inevitable only for Jonny Armitt to break the siege with an intercept and race up the pitch. Unfortunately the support couldn’t rally quick enough for the pass away and he was caught and the momentum lost.

The scoreline 0-0 with 30 minutes played and Perthshire were holding their own. However, Berwick went up a gear and managed with deft skill and benefitting from weak tackling to open some gaps in the home team’s defence to run in 3 tries before the half ended, 0-19.

Not disheartened Perthshire knew they could still turn it around in the second half. Kieran Ramsay entered the battle and immediately made an impact. Hard tackling and bursting runs causing havoc for the visitors. Winning a turnover while defending the try line Perthshire thought they were good to relieve the pressure. The referee however did not like some of Perthshire’s language and awarded a penalty which Berwick exploited to get the first try of the second half.

Undeterred ‘Shire hit back and Tom Colvin, having a great game, made the difference pressuring the defender to a force the knock on. A scrum penalty followed and ‘Shire had a lineout close to the Berwick line. The maul formed and made some distance before splintering. A few short phases infield then Kieran Ramsay called it to the blind side where he bundled over the line to score. Jonny Armitt adding the extras from a difficult angle.

The remaining 30 minutes were difficult for ‘Shire. Berwick showed real class in attack creating and exploiting space. Injury forced Simon McGarry off and a rejig of the backline. Though the set piece was equal, maybe even in Perthshire’s favour defenders started falling off tackles as the Eagles tired. The Northumberland men needed no second invitations and scored a good number of tries.

Despite clearly being on the wrong side of the results the Eagles continued to attack and defend as a team. Tom Colvin, Calum Chalmers and Kieran Ramsay leading the charge while Angus Walker never took a step backwards holding the line. Ross Goodison was a lively threat all day and relentlessly defended his wing.

The final whistle blew and Berwick with 2 games left are surely on course to promotion to National League 2. Perthshire meanwhile know they are a work in progress and Head Coach Alan Clark hit the nail on the head observing that ‘Shire were equal to top of the league for 30 minutes; off-season, and preseason will be there to make it an 80 minute performance and in 2022/23 challenge for top spots.

The 2XV season, however, continues until 14th May so there will still be rugby for supporters to watch for another 5 weeks. On Saturday the 2s travelled to Bannockburn, but due to player availability it was played under Game On rules with 11 a side.

With no-one on the bench it was a long hard day for Perthshire. Captain Jack Mcintosh was proud of the efforts from his team, the mindset was right and despite conceding 62 points managed to secure a try bonus point to take something from the match. The 4 tries coming from a Rab Pittendreigh interception, Peter Cowen burning round the outside defenders and 2 by Fraser Coldwell individually cutting through the opposition for one and later finished off a team attack starting from the ’Shire 22 for this second. Final score Bannockburn 62 – 26 Perthshire 2XV.

Next week the 2s will face Montrose, kick-off 3pm on the North Inch. Supporters encouraged and welcome to support the Eagles.

Photos taken by Peter Wilkinson.