HISTORIC CUP WIN FOR BLAIR
First-ever Midlands Bowl win for JJ Coupar Park side
Blairgowrie RFC made history at the weekend with a welldeserved 6-28 win in the Midlands Bowl Cup Final against high-flying Dundee Medics.
The senior Blair squad travelled to Dundee on Saturday for what was only their second-ever appearance in a Midlands final.
Going in to the game the Dundee Medics - who had only lost one game this season - were arguably favourites to land the trophy.
It was the students who won the toss and opted to play against a fairly strong wind kicking the ball straight into touch. From the ensuing scrum it was obvious that the Blairgowrie pack had the greater weight and immediately put the students under early pressure with front rowers Euan Constable, Dave Malloch and Peter Duncan driving them backwards on every occasion.
Despite the Blairgowrie forwards having the advantage in the scrum they were unfortunately penalised on far too many occasions for “driving early” thus handing possession to the students, but some excellent defensive tackling by Murray Davidson, Fraser Bissett and Rory Grant prevented Dundee Medics from crossing the try line.
Following a period of sustained pressure from the students Fraser Maxwell made a good break out of defence taking Blairgowrie deep into their half.
From the ensuing scrum Fraser Black managed to steal the ball from their scrum half and drove to the line only to be stopped short of the Medics’ try line.
Another scrum saw the Blairgowrie forwards drive over the try line allowing number eight Finn Ormiston to touch down for the try, which was ably converted by Stephen Souter.
The students quickly responded, forcing Blairgowrie back into their own 22-metre area and winning a penalty to make the score 3-7. This was followed by another successful penalty to reduce the deficit to just one point.
Dundee Medics were enjoying a lot of possession but great defensive tackling by Mark Reddin and Neil MacRae again prevented them from getting over the try line.
With the first half drawing to a close Stephen Souter sent a superb kick deep into the students’ half which the speedy John McLaren retrieved before making a break for the try line.
Once again the students’ defence held out but the Blairgowrie forwards were on hand to help prop forward Euan Constable to drive over the try
line to make the half-time score Dundee Medics 6 Blairgowrie 12.
With Blairgowrie now playing the second half against the wind the crowd were on edge expecting the students to use the strong gusts to their advantage but whatever was said at half-time by Blairgowrie coaches Craig Ormiston, Kev Brown, Ally McLaren, Alan Robertson and Cally Gordon appeared to help the Blairgowrie players find another gear.
Captain Andy McOuat and scrum half Russell Edwards made a real nuisance of themselves, refusing to allow the Medics to settle on the ball and with Blairgowrie now starting to take more command of the game, Stephen Souter broke through the defence only to be stopped on their 22-metre line.
Black was on hand to retrieve the ball though, winning a penalty in the process, which was successfully converted by Souter.
Midway through the second half Blairgowrie made a number of changes and the fresh legs made an immediate impact with the Blairgowrie pack driving the ball at pace for at least 20 metres, forcing the opposition to concede a penalty try which was converted by Souter.
With the game entering the last quarter and all the Blairgowrie substitutes now on the pitch some great driving by Peter Duncan resulted in the students conceding another penalty, again converted by Souter.
With just minutes remaining the Blairgowrie forwards continued to pile on the pressure with Russell Edwards - not for the first time in the match - stealing a ball from the base of the students’ scrum, releasing Marc Reddin who drove through a number of players and won a penalty which was converted by Souter and followed by the final whistle and loud cheers from the crowd.
Following the match an SRU representative presented the Blairgowrie team captain Andy McOuat with the Midlands Bowl.
Team: Euan Constable, Dave Malloch, Peter Duncan, Mark Reddin, Neil MacRae, Fraser Black, Andy McOuat, Finn Ormiston, Russell Esdwards, Murray Davidson, Fraser Bissett, Fraser Maxwell, Rory Grant, John McLaren, Stephen Souter, Davie Grieve, Jordan Lynn, Alan Walsh, Tom Helyer, Grant Knowles, Mathew Michie, Michael Grant, Alan Guild.
Man of the Match points were awarded as follows; three points to the front row, Euan Constable, Dave Malloch and Peter Duncan; two points to Fraser Black and one point to all the other players.
This was an excellent team effort by Blairgowrie with every single player contributing to a hardfought win and in the process securing the Midlands Bowl for the first time in the club’s 37-year existence.
Blairgowrie now await the results of the other three regional matches to find out who they will meet in the national semi-finals.
Training is as usual at 7pm at the JJ Coupar Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
This Saturday, February 18, Blairgowrie return to league duties with an away match at Crieff and Strathearn. Team selection and travel arrangements will be announced at training.