Perthshire 17 – 38 Orkney

Frustration for 14-man Eagles who fail to capitalise on good positions and struggle in set piece.

In order for the islanders to make the return ferry this was an early midday kick-off. Nonetheless it was compelling and competitive match that played out to the crowd gathered to watch at the North Inch.

Perthshire started brightly getting into the Orkney half and staying there. Strong carries from Ewen MacDonald and Angus Walker made headway on the ground while an effective kicking game from Aidan Watson won the air battle pinning Orkney to the corners. Attempts to run out of their half were thwarted by keen defence led by Calum Chalmers and Adrian Venter.

Despite the territorial dominance Perthshire could not get on the scoreboard and it was Orkney who struck first. Eventually breaking out from their half, and stringing together a series of quick phases, a well struck kick won a 50:22 lineout. Getting there first, Orkney took it quickly and, with ‘Shire daydreaming, quickly made it right up to the line. A few more short carries and they crossed the whitewash for a converted try.

At the restart Orkney deployed a box kick which the chase recovered to get immediately onto the front foot. Perthshire seemed to have slowed the attack but were penalised for not rolling away from the tackle. Unsportingly, the Orcadian scrumhalf deliberately knocked-on and took the tap penalty immediately. He coasted through the defenders, who could not touch him, and drew the final defender to pass inside for a second converted try, 0-14.

This time from the restart the intense line-speed by the home team rushed Orkney in to a sliced clearance kick. The lineout was in a good attacking position but the ball was stolen by Orkney who then knocked on when trying to kick clear. Back in ‘Shire hands the ball was sent out to the wing where Jonny Armitt put a probing kick down the 15m channel. Collected by the retreating Orkney winger he had nowhere to go as he was isolated by Adrian Venter who won a penalty 5m out. The lineout misfired again but Calum Chalmers reacted quickest plucking the overthrow from the air and nearly made it across the line. A couple of forwards had a go but it was James “Love Island” Armstrong who made the final metre to crash over for a try on his last game for Perthshire. Conversion missed but Perthshire were on the scoreboard, 5-14.

The second quarter mostly involved Perthshire defending in their own 22. The tackles and rucks were fierce with no quarter given. Turnovers from Adrian Venter & Tom Bartlett won back possession and allowed Aidan Watson to clear the ball to safety. Sadly the faltering lineout would return the ball back to Orkney to attack and the cycle repeated.

Perthshire and some forays into Orkney’s half, often started by Rory Bayne, but once in the 22 the player would be isolated, ball knocked-on or a lineout lost and that would end the attack. It was back & forth until a break on the left wing got Orkney into Perthshire’s 22. Gaining an offside penalty by the posts Orkney, sensing the upper hand, opted for the scrum. A solid heave kept the pack in tight as the ball was delivered quickly through the hands to the centre who cut an angle to break through and score. It was a straightforward conversion, 5-21.

There were just enough minutes in the half for the men in Black & White to hammer the Orkney line but to no avail. Orkney very relieved to hear the halftime whistle under such pressure.

The second half started again evenly. This time though it was a kicking tennis rather than carries that were the mainstay of the plays. Despite their struggles in the set piece Perthshire were more than a match for Orkney in open play.

It changed with a red card for James Armstrong. Punished for a head-on-head tackle, the referee decided dismissal was the only option. This was harsh as the ball was loose on the ground and it looked to many on the sideline that both players were diving for the ball. Nonetheless, Perthshire were 16 points down with 35 minutes left to play and only 14 on the pitch.

Orkney kicked this penalty to the corner and started to build the pressure. To add to Perthshire’s troubles Ewen MacDonald was injured in the defence of the try line. He carried on for a bit but had to be replaced soon after by Arran Sheach. The islanders did mange to get a try but it took significant effort. Perthshire to a man defended & defended. Quality lines and passes by Orkney were not enough to break the tackle. Eventually after going from one touchline to the other and back inside, this quick hit up midfield was just too fast. A gap opened up at the side of the ruck which was exploited as the attacker squeezed through & over for an unconverted try, 5-26.

Undeterred Perthshire took the fight to the Orkney half. A kick downfield was collected but Tom Bartlett chop-tackled the ball carrier and Ross Goodison was right on top to win a penalty for not releasing. Taking it quickly and getting the advantage as the defence did not retreat, Ross Goodison danced deep into the 22 before he was brought down. The ball was worked to the right over a series of phases building up to the line before it was passed inside to James Mair. He touched down, but was denied a try as the pass was judged forward. Racing to the mark as the referee signalled the return for the penalty, Aidan Watson took it quickly and was tackled inches short. Adrian Venter in support picked the ball up from the base and used his strength to cover the final few inches and claim the try. The conversion was missed, 12-26.

Both teams stepped up their game as they entered the final quarter but neither could keep the momentum for long. For Perthshire, in open play there was no hint of lacking a man, but at the set piece the lineout continued to be a lottery and the 7-man scrum was struggling.

A scrum penalty conceded around halfway was quickly tapped and the ball spread coast to coast by the islanders. The Eagles were backpedalling but then rallied and contained the attack. However, Orkney upped the intensity switched the direction of attack once more to secure the overlap and score in right corner.

Minutes later they scored again, this time a much easier try. Taking a lineout down to set a maul the Perthshire pack were sucked in leaving an undefended blindside. This space was spotted by the Orcadian back row who broke off and ran unopposed to score under the posts, 12-38.

There was little time left but still Perthshire wanted to get something from the match. Piercing runs by Simon McGarry and Ross Goodison went deep into Orkney territory but they came to nothing. A turnover penalty won on halfway by Adrian Venter was tapped & passed to Ross Goodison on the left wing. He slipped and this seemed to flummox the defence as Ross changed angle and then proceeded to evade 6 would-be tacklers as he jinked & jiggled up to the 5m line. Just held, the ball was offloaded to Aidan Watson in support who scored the try that Ross Goodison made. Unlucky with the boot the conversion went wide.

With seconds remaining ‘Shire had one more chance to sneak a try bonus point but it was not to be and it remained 17-38 as the clock hit 80 minutes.

Despite the one man disadvantage Perthshire put their all in to that match and did not let Orkney have anything for free. Definitely there are work-ons for the Eagles to finish the season strongly and to build up for 2023-24. With numbers good at training Head Coach Alan Clark knows he can get the right reaction from his players before West of Scotland away next weekend. Supporters welcome on the bus which will depart Bell’s at 12pm for a 3pm kick off in Milngavie.

Finally, Perthshire Rugby is indebted to James Armstrong who joined only last season but has made a lasting impact on the playing field, at training, for the Tour to Blackpool and as Club Treasurer. In such a short time he got truly stuck in, lifted the players around him to get better (even if he only managed one full 80 minute performance himself) and continued to create a sound financial basis for the Club to work from. The Club wish him well on his travels and hope to see him again in the future.

Screenshots from match video recorded by Jan Adriaan Venter.
1st half https://youtu.be/te2r_9YFOFk
2nd half https://youtu.be/RHtjiOqlNm4
Photographs taken by Louise Venter can be seen here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KgqbWsUCzrhiGHr26

Seventh Heaven for Perthshire

Perthshire Women 45 – 14 Bannockburn Valkyries

Women grow into game to deliver dominant 7-try victory.

Perthshire Women 1st XV hosted Bannockburn Valkyries on the North Inch for their second fixture in the National Bowl. ‘Shire kicked to start and showed strong determination from the off. An unfortunate knock on from the home team saw Bannockburn awarded an early scrum. ‘Shire made a bold statement by contesting this first set piece strongly and winning the ball, which was soon passed wide to winger Jackie McConville who ran it all the way to the corner to score an early first try for Perthshire.

Co-captain Heather McKenzie caught the ball from the Bannockburn restart and made great progress into the opposition’s half. After a few phases the ball found its way back to McKenzie who ran it between the posts and scored the second try for ‘Shire. The home team really started to gain momentum, making excellent carries and finding gaps. Perthshire’s other co-captain, Alex Ward, used her excellent footwork to find her way past multiple Bannockburn defenders twice in quick succession to put another two tries on the board.

Bannockburn upped their strong attacking efforts and shortly before half time found a gap near the wing and accelerated through to score their first try of the match, which they converted. With Ward converting three of Perthshire’s four tries it saw them sitting on a comfortable lead of 26 – 7 going into half time.

Coach Iona Coutts praised the ‘Shire ladies for their excellent efforts in the first half, but warned them not to relax as the game was not yet won. She knew that Bannockburn would be looking to keep up the momentum they had shown towards the end of the first half and didn’t want the home team to be caught out.

Perthshire kept this in mind as they put every effort into keeping a strong defence in the second half. They took the opportunity to shift the momentum to attacking and Heather McKenzie added another try for ‘Shire. Bannockburn continued to push strongly in their attack and were quick to spot any gaps in the ‘Shire defence – giving them their second converted try of the match in a very similar style to their first.

Keen to ensure that Bannockburn didn’t continue to add to their tally, ‘Shire worked hard and the forwards made a series of strong carries down the pitch towards the line. After several phases within 5 metres of the line, it was Perthshire’s second rower Katie Bromley who carried the ball over the line and scored her first try for the ‘Shire.

With the time close to the 80 minute mark, ‘Shire were awarded a line out within Bannockburn’s 22. They smoothly passed the ball through the hands to fullback Eilidh Patterson who scored the last try of the match. Alex Ward was left with a difficult angle but kicked an excellent conversion – giving a fitting end to an impressive game from the Perthshire ladies. They took the win 45 – 14 and will be recovering this week before hosting Stornoway on Saturday 1st April, kick-off 2pm at the North Inch. Supporters welcome to come down and cheer on the Women.

Photos taken by Peter Wilkinson.

Numbers Down and Intensity Turned Up

Bannockburn 55 – 12 Perthshire 2XV

Injuries put Perthshire down to 12 but they front up and stress Bannockburn.

The 2XV made the short trip down to Bannockburn with only 16 players due to a couple of late call offs, this however didn’t distract the players. It was always going to be a hard gritty contested match and it did not disappoint.

Bannockburn took an early lead but, unphased, Perthshire fought back with some great play being created by AJ Guthrie. Laurence Knight, making his Perthshire senior debut, kept himself busy in defence and attack all match. Unfortunately, 15 minutes in ‘Shire were camped out in there own 22 where Lee Graham hit a ruck and came worse off with a dislocated shoulder. A quick shuffle in the squad brought Angus Macfarlane went into centre and Perthshire kept up the work rate and managed to claw a score back by Hector Inglis.

Perth went down to 14 players after Captain Angus Macpherson picked up and ankle injury then rapidly down to 13, when James Marley went down with what turned out to be a broken foot. With 5 minutes left in the half and the 2 man advantage Bannockburn managed to run in a couple of quick try’s for a halftime score 22 – 5.

Shortly into the second half Konner Wilkie came off with a rib injury, this opened the flood gates. Bannockburn ran in 4 more tries after refusing to match numbers at the referees request. Not content with their 3 man advantage and to add insult to injury, at one point Bannockburn had 17 players on the pitch against the ‘Shire 12! This was only rectified after it was spotted by coach Campbell Watson who made the referee aware of this large imbalance.

Perthshire didn’t give up and showed just what they were made of battling for everything, this paid off when AJ Guthrie broke out and scored & converted a try. Heading in to the last minute of the game ‘Shire yet again broke out from their own 22 through Laurence Knight who drew the winger infield and popped the ball out to Rabson Chipakupaku who accelerated away from the fullback to get a final score.

Coach Campbell Watson and Captain Angus Macpherson could only congratulate the guys on their effort on the pitch under such a heavy handicap, final score 55 – 17. The 2s have only one match left this season, an away trip to Rosyth beckons on Saturday. Perthshire came out on top on the North Inch in October. With injuries to overcome it will be a tough ask for the squad to repeat, but the resilience and determination shown in this match and throughout the season will give the coaches belief their squad can get a result.