Eagles late revival brings crucial win
Perthshire side claw back from the brink of defeat
Resilient Perthshire bounced back from the jaws of defeat to record a vital victory against Orkney.
The BT National League 3 fixture, held at the North Inch, attracted a healthy crowd despite an earlier kick-off.
And home spectators witnessed a stunning late revival from an Eagles side whose early season fortunes are turning.
Zack Harris was the man to score the decisive last ditch try to reward the Perth squad with a nail-biting 2219 win.
Captain Adam Pattinson said: “The lads stepped up at the right time to grind out such a crucial victory.
“We didn’t quite click until the last 20 minutes, but we timed our finish just right.
“The heads could easily have gone down, especially after Orkney took a 16-3 lead.
“We weren’t quite at the races at the start of the second half and Orkney managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
“Both sides knew how crucial a win would be for the season, but we went guns blazing in the final quarter to get the win.
“The performance wasn’t perfect, but to win in that fashion has done a lot for the confidence of the squad.”
Orkney’s scrum dominance was winning penalties and they often went for the lineout option to drive Perth players back.
Determined jumping from Dan Bowater, Pattinson and Andy Jack limited the damage.
Bowater, in particular, was excelling with several rampaging runs against the bigger Orkney pack.
Eagles skipper Pattinson (on the ball) was delighted with the character shown in the win over Orkney
Both teams missed penalty opportunities and it took until the half hour mark before Jonny Armitt landed his first successful kick.
That gave Shire the lead, but it proved to be a brief one as Dan Bain soon equalised for the long-travelled visitors.
The game was heating up and an Armitt interception from his 22 looked likely to lead to a certain try.
But the referee spotted foul play and Orkney converted a penalty in front of the posts for a 3–6 lead at the interval.
The Islanders, who had ferried across to Aberdeen before navigating to Perth, started the second half on the front foot.
They created a huge three man overlap but contrived to knock on when a score seemed certain.
Shire were losing their composure and it was Orkney who increased their lead when Linklater grabbed a try in the 44th minute, converted by Bain.
That advantage was increased by a further three points as the tiring Shire pack gave away yet more penalties.
The North Inch men were now trailing by 13 points - and struggling - but once again Bowater came to the rescue.
He tore up the field leaving defenders in his wake and, when he was eventually hauled down, several attempts were made to break through. Eventually a penalty was won which was punted into touch.
Pattinson was driven on before Bowater crashed over to bring the Eagles back into the game.
Shire’s discipline wavered as the referee kept punishing tiring stragglers coming in from the sides at the rucks.
The hosts seemed reluctant to kick the ball clear from their 22 against the wind and this resulted in further pressure on them.
Orkney failed to take advantage but they did convert a further penalty to increase their lead to 8–19 with little over 10 minutes remaining.
But the battling Perth side were far from done.
Ryan Miller and Harris worked together to give Armitt room to stretch his legs and outpace the cover to score in the corner.
He struck his conversion perfectly and it soared between the uprights for the extra points and home supporters began to dream.
As the minutes ticked away, the Eagles kept up the pressure to win a penalty and Pattinson, knowing that three points was not enough to win the game, elected for the touch kick.
He soared above everyone to win the lineout and scrum half Harris, always looking for the gap, spotted a bit of space and squeezed himself through for the winning score, converted by Armitt.
Shire were given a huge boost by the return of Graeme Clow after a 10 month absence and, although the former Premier and Caley star eased himself back in gently, he will be a huge asset during the rest of the season.
Shire travel to take on Haddington on Saturday afternoon.
Pattinson said: “This match is massive for both teams again. They are a decent side who find themselves in the same position as us.
“They’ll be hoping to beat us well at their ground after a comfortable win at Dalziel, but we’ll do our best to frustrate them and come away with another win of our own.
“It’s going to be a proper battle. The team that can cope best with the pressure will come away with the points. Hopefully that’ll be us.”
Perthshire ........... 22 Orkney ................ 19