Strathmore 10 - 22 Aberdeenshire
Strathie lost out to Aberdeenshire 1st's and
2nd's for the first time in over 4 years on a
bright sunny afternoon at Inchmacoble.
Hopes were high after the tremendous showing
last week and a good sized crowd turned out for
the last pre-season game before the league kicks
off next weekend with, ironically, another trip
to fur boot city. Aberdeenshire are
preparing for National 3 and look well up for
the challenge having experienced a good victory
over Ross High in the cup last year.
It was an unusually quiet Strathie who went
behind to an early try having had little
possession from the start. With several
regulars unavailable and a fielding both a 1st &
2nd XV coach Dave Brown's options were limited.
When the Blacks did go forward the Shire
were able to read the set plays getting two men
on the ball carrier with ease, Shire had good
pace in the backs and looked good every time the
ball went wide getting another try shortly
after. Strathie got one before the break
to keep them in the match.
The second half saw Strathie dig in and
defend well putting huge pressure on the Shire
defence, the second half penalty score was
around 22 - 2 in favour of the blacks but they
were unable to convert the opportunities into
points. It was Shire who held out until 5 minutes from time
but it
was a case of to much to late as the Strathie
men ran out of time.
It was a similar story for the 2's who went
down by about 5 tries to 2.
It was not all doom and gloom as there were
several good performances in both squads with
the new faces gelling with the regulars and
reinvigorated olds. Next weeks away trip
is to Aberdeen University with a 3:00pm kick off
scheduled - venue to be confirmed.
Gordonians 12 - 21 Strathmore
Veteran Graeme Crozier kicked off against
Gordonians in a confidence boosting game against
Gordonians in bright sunny windy afternoon at
Counteswells. It was a new look Strathie
who scored first against the run of play with a
converted try from Jamie Wilson / Gary Wood.
New boy Neil Lear added a second shortly
afterwards and Strathie were on top.
Gordonians managed a breakaway try in the first
half to make halftime 5- 14.
Jason Leslie gave the team a good half time
talk setting out the plans for the second half.
Gordonians got back into it with a second
converted try but it wasn't long before Colin
Bell broke clear for the third try of the
afternoon converted by another new face Lewis
Knox.
It was a good afternoons workout for the team
with some strong performances all round, next
come Aberdeenshire promoted to National 3 last
years so next weeks game should prove a lot
harder. The Shire are due to bring a 1st &
2nd XV to Forfar so we will be in for a good
afternoons rugby!
Glenrothes 14 - 47 Strathmore
Strathie went
into this match knowing that they
had to win and with the home team
opting to play down the hill with
the wind it was looking like a tough
start but the men in Black were
fitter and more up for the match and
it was one way traffic from the off.
The referee was coming under
constant bombardment from the fifers
players and sparse supporters as
they tried unsuccessfully to
intimidate both players and
officials.
First half scores came
from Stuart Gray, Fraser
Cameron (2) and Niall
Lear, with 3 McLaren
conversions, for a half
time score of 26-7.
In
the second half, Lear
and Gray scored second
tries, and 17 year old
Angus Colts winger David
Smith scored his first
try for the club,
capping an excellent
game, showing
considerable pace on the
wing. McLaren converted
all 3.
Strathmore 28 - 22 St. Andrews
University
The students
always put up a strong team and this
was no exception with a few fresh
faces not seen at any previous
matches. But the men in black
overcame the youngsters to go within
1 point of league leaders Orkney
with both teams having one match to
play each.
Strathie
started well with a converted try to
which the students replied to almost
immediately. and they went on to go
into half time in the lead. For
a full report and
More ....@
Pitchero
Strathmore 28 - 10 Orkney RFC
Strathie
closed the gap on league leaders
Orkney to 7 points with an emphatic
clear cut victory in front of a big
crowd bolstered by a good travelling
support hoping to see Orkney lift
the league trophy. It was
clear from the off that they were to
be disappointed as the Black's
produced the seasons performance by
a mile.
Scottish Regional Bowl
2009 / 10
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Round 1 |
Round 2 |
Round 3 |
Quarter Final |
Semi Final |
Final |
| Fife Southern |
St. Andrews Uni |
Harris Academy FP's |
Grangemouth |
Wigtonshire |
North Berwick |
Final
North Berwick 13 - 8
Strathmore
Four
buses
and many
cars
travelled
to the
home of
Scottish
Rugby to
see the
men in
black
grace
the main
pitch in
their
first
ever Cup
final
appearance. It was
not to
be the
golden
day so
many
festooned
in black
and
white
wished
for,
instead,
it was
the men
in black
and red
who
celebrated
at the
final
whistle.
This was
was, a
close
encounter
marred
by
handling
errors
and some
of the
most
dubious
refereeing
decisions
seen
this
year.
North
Berwick
had
virtually
all the
first
half
possession
nearly
went
over in
the
first 15
minutes
but
Niall
Leer
knocked
the man
into
touch,
captain
Jamie
McLarren
was sent
to the
bin for
holding
on and
this
gave the
Berwick
men an
advantage
which
they
used to
the full
going
into the
break 10
- 0 up.
Coach
Dave
Browne
managed
to
settle
the
nerves
at half
time and
talk up
the team
in the
second
half and
it was
Strathie
who
started
in the
ascendancy.
A try
from
Lear and
a
penalty
from
young
Brad
McKenzie
putting
points
on the
board.
Strathie
pushed
hard for
a second
try and
were at
the
white
wash
with the
the
North
Berwick
men
beginning
to look
like
they
were
loosing
their
confidence,
however
another
mistake
gave the
ball
away and
they
managed
to cleared
their
lines.
North
Berwick
gained
the
advantage
when
another
mistake
from the
blacks
gave an
easily
kicked
penalty
resulting
in the
blacks
having
to score
twice to
get back
into it.
Strathie
battled
hard all
the way
through
the
match
but
could
just not
break
through
the red
and
black
line
with
enough
pace to
get to
the
whitewash
for the
second
time,
the
referee
gave
them a
wee
chance
and
allowed
two
lineouts
at the
end of
the
match
with
strathie
deep
into the
22, on
the
final
lineout
with
less
than 3
seconds
to play
on the
official
clock
but
North
Berwick
won
possession
and
kicked
the ball
into
touch to
put an
end to a
well
contested
final.
It's
back to
league
action
next
week
with a
trip to
Glenrothes
followed
by, the
much
looked
forward
to,
visit of
league
leaders
Orkney -
get down
to
Glenrothes
and give
the boys
a lift
and keep
them in
the hunt
for
promotion!
More ....@
Pitchero
SEMI FINAL
Wigtownshire 0 -
22 Strathmore
The men in
black made the long journey to the
South West of Scotland in good
spirits and the result sets them up
for a first ever Murrayfield final
against North Berwick who have
already won their League, East 1.
A try from Neil Lear and an
excellent kicking display from 18
year old Brad McKenzie secured the
match
More ....@
Pitchero
Quarter Final
Strathmore 29 - 5 GrangemouthThe good sized crowd who turned out to see this important double header were well rewarded with the best performance of the season so far and the men in black are now only one more match away from a Murrayfield final. Wigtonshire from Stranraer now stand in the way on Saturday 10th April.
Strathie weathered the early storm well as Grangemouth pushed hard from the start, Strathie could have been three points down after 2 minutes but the drop kick went wide by a foot. Grangemouth comtinued to use the strong wind to their advantage and, as a result, the Black's were rarely out of their own half in the first 20 minutes. Two quickfire tries changed the pace of the match and put the Strathie men in charge and by half time they were three tries to the good.
The second half was much the same as the Grangemouth men battled hard to get back into the match and they were rewarded with a good try but the strong wind pushed the kick wide.
More ....@ Pitchero
|
Scottish Regional Bowl Round
3 Draw
Strathmore 1st XV 21 - 6
Harris Academy FP's
A ring rusty
Strathmore overcame a Harris team
who have been playing well at the
top of the division just below us
and showed that they could well be
promoted this year. The
Black's went 6 points behind after
15 minutes to two penalties but by
half time two well worked tries put
them firmly on top.
Harris had two
good chances called back by the
referee in both half's and nearly
got a try towards the end of the
match but good defence from the
Strathie men held them back.
More ....@
Pitchero
Scottish Regional Bowl Round
2 Draw
Strathmore 23 - 0 St. Andrews
UniA much closer
game than the score suggests, the
students have some very good quick
players and some luck in the
handling errors both saved and
gifted a Strathie team which had not
played since the 7th Nov - 3 whole
months- this is two seasons in one.
More ....@
Pitchero
Scottish Regional Bowl Round 1
Fife Southern 5 - 12 Strathmore
More ....@
Pitchero
