Blairgowrie claim bragging rights

The score was level at half-time but Blairgowrie stormed through to earn the east Perthshire bragging rights.

Mark Brash’s men turned up the heat on Coupar Angus in the second half of Saturday’s North Premier League derby to run out 6-1 winners.

Cammy McManus put Blair ahead in the 42nd minute but Ross Miller quickly responded to see the game finely balanced heading into the second half.

But a Darren Neave hat-trick coupled with goals from Gary Axworthy and Rudi Brown ensured that the visitors left Foxhall Park with a maximum haul of points.

They remain second in the table behind East Craigie while Coupar sit second from bottom.

“We created a lot of chances in the first half but we lacked quality in the final third,”said Blair’s Dale Corrin.

“Cammy [McManus] took his goal well but they pegged us back just before the half-time whistle.

“We controlled the game from start to finish but we were clinical in the second half, with Neaver [Darren Neave] scoring a fantastic hat-trick which settled the game.

“Gary Axworthy and Rudi Brown took their goals well. Overall it was a good win and we look to build on that going into the cup game against Lochore Welfare next week.”

In the North Super League, Luncarty suffered a disappointing 3-2 defeat against Carnoustie Panmure at Brownlands Park.

Fraser Mills had netted a double to get the score level heading into the latter stages of the match but the men from Angus grabbed the winner.

Luncarty manager Jon Kelly was gutted to lose out and believes his side should have been awarded a penalty.

“It was a very sore one to take on Saturday if I’m honest,”he said.

“After going 2-0 down I thought the lads showed superb character in getting back to 2-2. We then looked like we were going to get the winner but lost a goal on the break.

“We were denied a stonewall penalty with a minute to go and that’s what made it hard to take as we were well worth a point.

“But we must learn from it as we all know if we don’t perform at the top level every week then we will get punished.

“There were plenty of positives to take from the game though and we will use that to bounce back.”