With a former players lunch at the club on Saturday, we would perhaps have been looking forward to a sunny day full of expansive running rugby and a bonus point at the end of it. Sadly this was never going to be the case on a dreich derby day against a decent Aberdeen Uni side. Shire welcomed back the experience of Rob Anderson in the midfield and gave former Kelso youngster Ally Riley his debut on the wing.

What was to be on display was one of the most dominating and powerful forward displays of the past couple of seasons, never giving the Uni team a snifter of hope to hang onto.

In the first couple of minutes Shire stated their intentions by bullying their way up the pitch and earning a penalty in front of the sticks which Cole duly slotted. The next 20 minutes was a battle of wills between the packs. The fight for dominance didn’t leave much chance for the backs to spread their wings, except for Rob 'sparrow' Anderson who somehow ended up about 6 feet off the ground after one tackle.

Aberdeenshire turned up at Crieff with an impressive 4 for 4 record in the league so far. 3 of those results being on the road. Given a boost by Crieff's failure to defeat Garioch the week before, Shire set about getting torn into the home side utilising the much practiced but less utilised expansive game plan. A period of early pressure was nearly undone but a careless penalty near the centre of the pitch but thankfully the Crieff kicker left his boots at home. This early miss spurned on the visitors to lift their tempo and simply not allow Crieff back in their half. This reduced Crieff's forays into the Shire half to clearance kick and chases and the occasional missed tackle.

At this point it was clear to see that the home team were there for the taking and the Shire pack rose to the challenge. With Shire now controlling territory with strong forward play, positional kicking and pressure defence the hosts began to crack.

Shire ran out against Blairgowrie, for their third away game in a row. All involved knew a big effort would be required as the home team had been promoted at the end of last season and had something to prove.
 
Shire won the toss, and after a slightly awry kick off, managed to win back possession and were in control for most of the first ten minutes. The Blairgowrie team tried to unsettle their visitors at every opportunity legal or otherwise and unlikely enforcer scrum half Leith set the tone by making some big hits with none bigger than the one made on the Blair hooker who had attempted to decapitate the half back at the previous lineout. From the knock on Shire found themselves back down in their opponents half which setup a storming run from No 8 Chalmers who was tackled on the 22. Quick clearing from the Shire forwards and brilliant hands from prop Sutherland to fellow prop Steven Cook put him through a gap. After brushing off two tacklers, he was brought down by the third just inside the 5 metre line, managing to stretch over the line for the first score of the game, the conversion from right in front of the posts proving no problem for Stefan Cole to knock over.
 
Shire upped their game after the kick off, and after heavy pressure in the forwards, the Shire backs were let loose for a 50 metre counter attack run which Cole finished off and successfully converted, making the score 14-0. More pressure late on in the first half saw Michael MacLugash dive in the corner for an unconverted try. Making the halftime score 19-0.

Blairgowrie started the second half well and managed to score due to some hard work and commitment from their forwards making the yards with the Shire defence not making front foot tackles, this score was made easier by replacement for injured openside Cook, Coull earning himself a yellow card after the home team were awarded a number of questionable penalties in the visitors 22. The game went downhill at this point with the majority of the next 10 minutes spent by the referee resetting scrum after scrum when on most occasions the ball could have been cleared.

After spending a pre longed period in their own half, Shire worked their way into the Blairgowrie half with good pressure and positional kicking from Leith and Cole which was also chased well. From an attacking 5 metre scrum Leith picked blind and committed the blindside flanker before firing a flat pass to winger James Baxendale who beat his man to score in the corner for Shire's first try of the second half, which went unconverted. Shires frustration continued to mount, and after yet more penalties, captain 'Caveman' Livingston was sent off, with a straight red for minor obstruction on a Blairgowrie chip and chase. This turned out to be one of many mistakes on the referee's part which he did turn to a yellow after the game, however this still left Shire with 14 men for the second time in the half.
 
Shire recovered from this loss rapidly, and after a solid scrum at midfield a well worked backrow move saw a well timed pass from Leith which Michael MacLugash burst onto untouched to score under the posts from long range. This was converted to make the score 31-7. The last score for Shire came when Stefan Cole gathered his own kick to go over again, and ran along the goal line waving his hand in a style slightly reminiscent of a footballer, for which he was heavily fined on the bus home! The game ended at 38-7, a solid win and a bonus point for Aberdeenshire.

This result was made even more impressive due to the fact the side played 20 minutes with only 14 men and in the second half a penalty count of 19-2 to the hosts. Discipline certainly has to improve but the team, coaches and supporters were definitely tested by a number of the referees decisions on the day. With a few surprise results Shire go top of the league and this can only add to the teams improving confidence.

The second outing of the season meant a short trip into rural Aberdeenshire on a day that needed to see a Shire side put some dominance on the league and on a team that had made the step up.

The performance would need to be an improvement on last weeks efforts as Garioch were clearly up for the game and would be delighted to take a scalp from such a close neighbour.
 
A sweeping wind blowing up field forecasted a different game plan needed for each half with shire facing the breeze opting to keep the ball in hand for the opening 40.

The kick off was poor from new recruit Cole and early exchanges were soft both teams struggled to get passes in great numbers often running out of space or getting caught isolated.