Sleepy Eagles fly straight into trouble
Jet-lag usually takes control when flying long haul across different time zones.
But Perthshire’s start against Orkney after an early morning flight into Kirkwall went some way to testing that theory.
The Eagles jetted in from Edinburgh for the Tennent’s National League Division 3 fixture but heads were still in the sky in the opening exchanges.
Orkney kicked off with a strong wind behind them on a Pickaquoy pitch in ideal condition.
Shire built a few phases knowing they would have to run from their own half to overcome the gusting conditions.
But a double movement in the tackle after only three minutes allowed James Linklater a first shot at goal which he duly slotted.
Orkney were quicker and smarter at the ruck and another three points were quickly added to the scoreboard.
Multiple missed tackles and some soft hits were gifting the islanders easy metres.
One Orcadian breakout resulted in Linklater dotting Shire line-up before last weekend’s game in Kirkwall
down for the first try of the match, which he converted.
Minutes later another ruck infringement allowed star man Linklater to line-up a longrange penalty to add another three points.
The Perth squad was 16-0 down after only 20 minutes and, in previous seasons, they may well have folded.
But there has been a newfound resilience this term and like a switch the Eagles remembered how to play rugby.
The scrums were firing and hard carries made inroads against the wind.
When in space Pete
Saunders and Scott Alcorn were able to take the ball on but the Orcadian scramble defence was resolute.
With 30 minutes clocked Perthshire had a line-out in the opposition half where Kieran Ramsay found his man and a maul formed.
To the delight of coach Mark Coupar, the pack picked up speed and started charging towards the Orkney line.
Just short it was illegally collapsed, however, the advantage wasn’t needed. Skipper Ryan Miller took the ball and passed to Dan Rae.
And he cut a sweet line and powered over to score with three home players hanging off him.
Calum Bruce added the extras and Perthshire were back in it at 16-7. With the wind second half it would have been very much recoverable.
But in the last play Orkney, from a scrum in their own half, coasted through some soft tackling.
A couple of offloads later hooker Scott Rendall ran the final 30 metres to touch down, although the conversion was missed.
Not all was lost and Perthshire displayed ambition after the break.
Miller kept the Orkney defence guessing as to whether he was going himself or passing to a forward crashing through.
Discipline was a problem for the hosts and Bruce took advantage to claw back three points.
It could have been more but a long-range Jonny Armitt effort - and another from Bruce - drifted wide of the mark.
Orkney sparked back into life and spent 15 minutes hammering the Perthshire line. Strong tackles exemplified by James Mair and key turnovers by Ewan MacKessack-Leitch and Ali Nisbett temporarily halted the advances.
The window to win the match was closing but Perthshire efforts continued.
In the final play the ball was worked to replacement winger Jay Pettie - making his first team debut - and he squeezed over in the corner.
It resulted in a finishing score of 21-15 but the losing bonus point could prove useful come the end of the season.
The result, coupled with the earlier 34-19 win for the Eagles on the North Inch, meant Shire claimed the annuallycontested Clark Thomson Cup.