REPORT Shire blown away by strong Accies

ARDROSSAN ........................................ 44 PERTHSHIRE ........................................ 10

Ardrossan has never been the happiest of hunting grounds for Perthshire in recent times.

And Saturday afternoon’s visit to north Ayrshire certainly did nothing to alter that with the hosts running out comfortable winners.

Shire have plenty of promising young players but lack the experience and hard edge to their play which is required at this level.

A very strong cross wind blew straight from the sea and a lot depended on which team would manage to harness this, especially in the lineouts. The Eagles went close to taking the lead when Jonny Armitt’s well-struck penalty was blown just wide of the mark.

That positive start counted for little when Ardrossan’s pack applied pressure and were presented with the softest of tries in the opening minutes.

Gradually the Perth youngsters settled down and the forwards gained the upper hand.

Strong drives from the likes of James Mair, Ewen MacDonald, Kieran Ramsay and Andy Jack were evident.

Ross Goodison and Aidan Watson, meanwhile, were real livewires in the backs but it always proved a struggle to punch a hole in the home defence.

Ramsay, however, soon made a bulldozing run which resulted in another penalty, this time Armitt was on the money for the three points.

While Shire’s forwards could hold their own, the Ardrossan backs were causing all sorts of problems with their hard, fast and direct running.

They grabbed their second try on the half hour mark with deft handling to create a two-man overlap on the wing.

Alan Clark’s men were struggling to keep tabs on errors and slack defence resulted in another try out wide, the hosts’third of the day.

Perth players did keep up the pressure but, on numerous occasions, lost the ball in contact.

This time almost every Ardrossan player handled the ball as they tore through the spread-eagled Shire defence for the bonus point try.

Woes continued as Aidan Watson had to be taken off at half-time with a shoulder injury and Calum Bruce moved from full-back to stand-off.

Ardrossan then began to take a bigger grip of the game and, despite some fine individual tackling, Shire were no match.

Experienced home players ran riot with a further four tries as Clark’s men struggled to end the game with 15 on the field.

Jay Pettie had to leave the action, followed by Jack while a serious knee injury to Dan Rae looks likely to keep him out for a long period.

Jack, with his dislocated pinkie, had to be brought back onto the field of play and hooker Ramsay had to fill in at centre.

In the dying minutes, Jack grabbed a consolation try for Shire, converted by Armitt and Perthshire had 10 points.

Coaches now have real headaches due to a mounting injury crisis and the seconds’defeat to Grangemouth.

On Saturday, the first XV face newly relegated Lasswade and the seconds play Dunfermline. Both matches are at the North Inch.