Perthshire Rugby Club win at Dumfries

Feb 12 2010

Dumfries12
Perthshire 19

PERTHSHIRE arrived at Dumfries to be greeted with a beautiful Spring-like day and a clubhouse bursting with supporters and sponsors.

Far from being intimidated by the large home support, Shire's forwards immediately took the game to Dumfries and they spent the first quarter of the game camped on their line.

Zeke Bowater made a great steal from a ruck and Elder cleverly chipped the ball behind the defence but was beaten to the touchdown.

Shire kept up this momentum but a mixture of good defending by Dumfries and lack of penetration by Shire meant that no scores were forthcoming.

The Eagles pack were in tremendous form and long runs by Pattinson, Whyte, Moffat and Coull were making holes in the defence, but the team just could not find that extra spark of genius to create an opening. 

Shire were shocked on 12 minutes when the dangerous Johnny Sloan slipped past a few half hearted tackles to take the lead. 

Dumfries continued to absorb everything Shire could throw at them and the small band of travelling supporters were beginning to wonder if this would prove to be another hard luck story.

Dumfries opened up Shire's defence again and with only full back Steele to beat it looked as though Shire may fall further behind but a brilliant tackle by the youngster saved the day and the danger was cleared.

Shire attacked the home line for the remainder of the first half as the forwards dominated all aspects of the game – Ali Anderson almost got the all-important try but was hauled down near the line.

Young Jack Steele was making good runs from full back but was lacking close support to make the efforts count.

Dumfries continued to hold on to their slender lead at the start of the second half but once again Shire's powerful pack were winning enough possession to win 10 games.

Coach Derek Busby then decided to pitch Erlend Oag into the fray.

The Eagles flyer had played for Scottish Universities against France the night before but he showed his enthusiasm for the club by driving up to Dumfries.

He proved to be the missing link Shire were looking for. His pace and vision resulted in Shire's first try as he moved in from the wing and collected the ball between the centres to slide through for a try which Steele just failed to convert.

This really galvanised the Shire backs and they started to move the ball about with much more confidence and Assenti and Oag were beginning to look a real handful.

Shire's task was made a little easier due to an injury sustained by the hard tackling Dumfries centre but Craig Assenti finished off two excellent moves with a brace of tries and Shire looked to have secured the win in this inaugural Premier Cup match. Dumfries had other ideas though and the far from slow, Sloan once again outpaced Shire's speedy backs to reduce the deficit to seven points and a nail biting end to the game.

Led by old heads Jimmy Whyte, Garry Coull and Ali Anderson, Shire's forwards ground out the win by retaining possession and there was sheer delight when the referee finally blew his whistle to give Shire a very impressive away win in the cup.

The draw has still to be made but the Eagles are hoping for a mouth watering tie in the last 16 against one of the top teams and a repeat of last years memorable epic against Selkirk would be a just reward for this excellent victory.

Tomorrow, the Eagles will take on Falkirk at home and although the visitors will start as favourites, if Shire's pack carries on with present form then a home victory is very much on the cards. Kick off is at 3pm and all connected with Shire are hoping to see a massive turnout.