Perthshire 22 – 22 Strathmore
Tense draw secures Eagles’ place in National League 3 for another season.
Following last week’s bonus point win over Greenock, Perthshire knew a single point would guarantee safety and avoid the possibility of relegation. However, in this local derby league considerations went to the back of the mind, as victory was the aim for both teams. The large crowd gathered on the Inch were not disappointed by the contest played out over the next 80 minutes.
It was a cool but fair day and Strathmore kicked off with Perthshire taking the ball well. After a few initial exchanges of possession, Strathmore opened the scoring with a successful penalty with 5 minutes played.
Soon Perthshire were into the Strathmore half and awarded a scrum in a good position. Tempers frayed between the backrowers as Perthshire’s pack heaved the visitors backwards. Matt Jenns and his opposite number given short shrift from the referee and sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes to cool down.
From the ensuing penalty, Perthshire kicked to the corner and won the lineout cleanly off the top. Sent out to the right, Lewis Murrie at scrumhalf heeded the call from Kieran Ramsay and switched it back left where Ramsay scored in the corner. Jonny Armitt missed the difficult conversion so Perthshire took the lead 5-3.
Moments later ‘Shire again found themselves back in the Strathmore 22. Andrew Sanderson at the end of a fine attack but just bundled into touch. With the 10 minutes sin bin over, the teams returned to 15 men. From this lineout Dan Rae took an excellent steal and immediately Perthshire were on the front foot. The forwards did the heavy lifting, bulldozing up to the line then Kieran Ramsay got his second for the day as he picked & scored from the base of the ruck; conversion missed the hosts had a 10-3 lead.
Having been starved of any quality possession Strathmore begun to get their players working together. A clever kick isolated Perthshire who conceded a penalty allowing Strathmore to kick for touch, but overly ambitious the ball went dead. Perthshire should have taken advantage but tried to run out their own half and were subsequently forced into touch, then compounded this by giving penalty in the next play. Strathmore made touch then won a controversial penalty at the following lineout which was taken quickly before the Eagles’ defence could reorganise. The quick hands found space in the backline with a looping pass opening up the defence for Strathmore to take a converted try and level the score.
Perthshire immediately went on the offensive, the defence forcing Strathmore into a knock-on. The play stayed in the visitors’ half as both teams forced mistakes from the other, Strathmore couldn’t exit, Simon McGarry key in winning midfield turnovers, but neither could ‘Shire break through despite opportunities created by Mat Rae and Aidan Watson.
Throughout the match Perthshire had the better in the set piece. The lineout maul was on devastating. With about 6 minutes to go and still in Strathmore territory the maul set and rumbled forward only to be denied as they were taken down illegally. Confident in his pack James Mair called it to himself again and from 5m the pressure was too much to defend. Kieran Ramsay secured his hattrick with another try in the corner as he peeled off the maul. Again the angle was not favourable and the conversion missed.
There was time for one more attack before the half ended. Perthshire has the option to go for 3 points but instead backed their maul. It wasn’t to be as the referee controversially judged the ball knocked on when Angus Walker went to ground it. So it remained 15-10 at the break.
With 3 tries to 1, Perthshire knew they had the ability to see the game out in the second half. All they needed to do was maintain composure and continue to exert pressure through the scrum & lineout.
The second half started at 100mph. It was a close, with the breakdown a particularly ferocious, contest both James Mair and Calum Chalmers excelling on the floor. The solid front row of Kyle MacKinnon, Angus Walker and Ewen MacDonald continued to provide a platform from the scrum.
Edging closer to their 4th try, tempers frayed and the referee sent ‘Shire back for a double penalty after an infringement on the clearing kicker. Perthshire were then lucky not to concede as moments later Strathmore broke through the midfield but the final, would be scoring, pass was knocked on.
Indiscipline was hurting ‘Shire now preventing any attacking rhythm and gifting Strathmore possession and position to attack. A couple of soft tackles in the midfield and the visitors were in behind. Hauled down just short of the line Strathmore reorganised quickly and after a few short picks took their try in the corner. Conversion missed the match was level 15-15.
Immediately after the restart Strathmore seized the lead. Receiving the ball on the left flank they attacked then sent a cross field kick to the right. Running down the wing as Perthshire scrambled the ball was grubber kicked infield where it was collected and scored under the posts. Within 2 minutes, Perthshire has gone from leading to a 7 point deficit.
The final 20 minutes saw mistakes and indiscipline hamper both teams. This suited Strathmore who were happy to run down the clock. After a promising few phases camped on the line James Mair crossed the line but the referee judged a knock on in the grounding.
Still applying the pressure the men in Black & White returned to the lineout maul but they were just held out. Changing tactic ‘Shire took a scrum 5m out. Forwards held in, Lewis Murrie sent the ball to the backs to no avail as an intentional knock on saw Strathmore reduced to 14 for the remainder of the match.
Constantly Perthshire pushed for the score, but scums and short penalties were defended. Eventually, in the final play and right on the line Will Campbell burst through the middle of the ruck to cover the necessary centimetres and cross the whitewash. Bonus point try secured, it was up to Jonny Armitt to see if he could add the extras to draw the match. If he was nervous he didn’t show, as he slotted it and the referee blew for full-time, 22-22.
Relief and elation in equal measure was expressed by the now sizeable crowd that had watched this entertaining match. Head Coach Alan Clark was pleased to see the resilience of the squad he has built to stick with it to the end and get more than the minimum from the match. The 3 league points secured sends Perthshire up to 7th in the table and above Strathmore.
The 2XV were also playing on the North Inch and also gave the squad a boost posting 45-12 win against Grangemouth 2XV. You can read the full match report, The Perth Men Come Up Trumps On The Inch, here: www.perthshire-rfc.co.uk/teams/2nd-xv
Next week is the final match for the 1XV as they host Berwick on the Inch, kick-off again 3pm. The visitors will be looking to extract as many points from the match as they seek promotion. Perthshire know they will have a handful to deal with but can go out and play with no fear and enjoy the chance to cause an upset. Meanwhile the 2XV travel to Bannockburn and look to build on the positive performance from this Saturday.
Photos taken by Peter Wilkinson.
