Blairgowrie carry Midlands’ hopes

As the club rugby season winds down there’s just one last chance for silverware to come to the Midlands and it’s the unlikely shape of Blairgowrie RFC who represent the district, writes Steve Scott.

Unlikely because the club have never been this close to Murrayfield before, but they’re only one match away from finals day and vying for the SRU Bowl when they take on Strathendrick from the west region in this weekend’s semifinal.

Blair came out of the Midlands section with a resounding 28-6 win over Dundee University Medics at Panmure’s Forthill on February 11 and have been handed home advantage for the semi.

Strathendrick have lost just a single game in their division this year but the same was true of the Medics when they met. Moray, for the north, and Portobello from the east meet in the other semi-final.

There’s still plenty of league action to wade through before the season’s end with Dundee HSFP still having five games to play, although they can’t do better than a finish in the upper part of the National One table.

High have not managed a home league game so far in this calendar year with three postponements so far but will hopefully show their much improved recent form is continuing when hosting Stewart’s Meville, who lie a place and just two points ahead of them.

There’s a chance that Howe of Fife could be officially relegated from National One this week as they travel to fellow strugglers Hamilton, although Aberdeen Grammar would have to defeat GHA to confirm the drop.

Perthshire too could be confirmed as relegated from National Three this week as they now lie 16 points behind Dalziel and travel to promotion-seeking Dumfries.

In Caledonia One Gordonians are playing the BT SRU Shield semi-final but the only team who can catch them for the title now are Caithness, although there is a 10-point gap between the clubs with three games left each to play. FIXTURES

National Bowl semi-final: Blairgowrie v Strathendrick.

National League One: Dundee HSFP v Stewart’s Melville, Hamilton v Howe of Fife.

National League Two: Kirkcaldy v Peebles.

National League Three: Perthshire v Dumfries Saints.

Caledonia Division 1: Mackie Acad FP v Caithness, Harris Acad FP v Aberdeen Wanderers.

Caledonia Division 2: Falkirk v Crieff and Strathearn.

Caledonia Division 3 play-offs: Madras v Grangemouth II, Stirling County III/Bridgehaugh v Dundee University Medics.