Shire headed to 3rd place Glenrothes in buoyant mood after last week’s crucial victory against St Andrews Uni. Due to Rory Schlierkamp being called away to a fashion shoot for Primark, Mike Roulston was brought back into the team for his first start of 2009. With the motivational tunes of Michael Jackson still ringing in their ears, Shire headed out knowing that they needed to take advantage of the strong wind they had at their backs. Despite this it was a sluggish start to the game with the pack being drawn into a battle up front with a heavy set of home forwards. With some intelligent kicking from Cole & Leith, Glenrothes were kept back in there own half. It was one of these kicks that Leith chipped in behind home defence which sat up nicely for Cole to collect and score under the posts. Cole took his tally to seven with a simple conversion.

Aberdeenshire prepared for their biggest game of the season so far with the visit of the St Andrews students to Woodside last Saturday. The players were treated to a light lunch at the Northern Hotel by the club before the game to settle some of the nerves in the camp. All involved were seriously motivated to avenge the clubs only league defeat at the hands of the visitors.  

The first half saw Shire choose to play into a relentless wind which saw the hosts spread the ball wide and attack the St Andrews team ball in hand in what was a fairly even opening 10mins.  A couple of line breaks gave Shire a glimpse of the line but the Uni managed to scramble back on each occasion to cover.  The deadlock was broken by a superb break down the flank, with Anderson, McGlugash and finally Broaders combining to touch down in the corner for a fine finish, Cole narrowly missing the conversion.  Shire led 5-0. 

Shire headed into what could have proved to be a tricky early kickoff against Madras on Saturday, with captain Caveman missing and Madras being the only team to beat second placed St Andrews so far this season.

Cheered on by a port fuelled traveling support and with a strong wind at our backs in the first half the plan was simple, go out and establish a good lead for the inevitable hard slog into the wind in the second 40. It didn't’t start too well for shire’s second best kiwi import Selby diving on the ball from the kickoff and damaging his ribs, and being replaced by Daddy Coull. However some nice play lead to an early try through MacLugash after good work from Broaders, going unconverted in the strong wind. What followed was 35 minutes of indiscipline with a spattering of good play from the shire, some good aggressive play from the forwards at the breakdown and Chalmers doing all the hard work in the lineout but all too often penalties were conceded in the opponents 22, giving them an easy get out. One more try was scored through veteran Sparrow, again going unconverted in the wind, and we also lost Cook Jr to a shoulder injury, which meant a move into second row for Cook Sr and Hempsey coming in at prop. 10 – 0 at half time, not the big points advantage we hoped for.

After a deservedly stern talking to from coach Eric Shearer, I mean Strachan Shire had to cut out the penalties and play well in the second half to take the essential 4 points and keep the pressure on St Andrews with the additional bonus point. And that is exactly what we did. The team started well, quick & clean ball from the forwards giving Leith the opportunity to send the ball out to his backs, Cole being able to use the experienced centre partnership to get Shire going forward. However the first try came from the forwards, with Cook Sr barrelling over about four defenders on his rampaging way to the line, he also showed nimble feet on the way back to half way, managing to avoid the broken bodies he had just left lying on the deck.

Then came the inevitable tough spell, with the wind advantage Madras put pressure on the Shire line for a long spell but after leaking three tries last week, the Shire defence held firm. The returning second row talisman Mason making his presence felt at the breakdown once more, and the mercurial Sutherland helping to clear the lines with an awe inspiring clearance that went all of 30 metres – sideways buy credit for trying Andy.

After defending valiantly and even Chunky & Condon forgetting their argument about not arguing, Shire turned it on towards the end, some nice play from the backs leading to MacLugash going over again in the corner, the excitement of the bonus point was too much and lead to the usual over celebration from our top try scorer. One more try followed, this time a charge down by the smallest man on the pitch, Leith (after his opposite number had been substituted), being picked up by Chalmers and driven over the line. All three tries in the second half went unconverted.

So the final whistle went and Shire had turned it on once more when they needed it, a bonus point and clean sheet away from home was a good result and well deserved after the 2nd half turn around.

A thank you must be given to Russell Hempsey and all the other guys at Varel who kindly sponsored warm up tracksuits which were used for the first time on Saturday. Although there was a bit of confusion about who wore what with letters being used instead of numbers!? Thanks to Matt Christie for that one!

Looks like it’s a free weekend ahead then the vital top of the table clash at home against second placed St Andrews on March 28th. After the 6-3 defeat earlier in the season the boys go into this needing no extra motivation.

On a trivial and non important point a I mention also has to be given to the bus trip home via Edinburgh for the Scotland Ireland game. It will go down in Shire legend as one of the most bizarre trips in recent history! With bus chairmen being overthrown and then being overcome by port, a bus virgin not making it past Perth before being out for the count and only being able to bang his head off the window constantly in his sleep and not to mention a certain other having another hissy fit because the committee had made him be sick on his best trousers! This last incident led to an episode of Opraph unveiling between the chairmen and said sickboy to resolve their issues!? Living TV have been in touch regarding making a reality show!

Shire recieved the kick off, and for once they started the game well. Early pressure and some tactical kicking found Shire with a lineout on Orkneys 5 metre line. The line out was won, the hooker Shaun Mountain taking the ball back from the jumper he had just thrown it to, steam rolling the opposite number 9 (big achievement for a front row) and 10 to dive over the line for the first score of the game.

Despite Shire being in control of most aspects of the game, an intercepted pass between the forwards lead to Orkneys first trip into Shires 22, and after some quick hands and hard running, Orkney equalled the score. Shire didn't let their heads go down, however, and again found Shaun Mountain barrelling over from five metres out to score his second try of the game (and season). Orkney found themselves in possession once  again, and after some sloppy tackling equalled the score once again.

It was yet another important game for the mighty Shire, to continue their impressive winning streak against what has come to be known as a very physical Mackie team.

The Shire could not ask for a better start, as from the kick off James Baxendale almost scored but just had his foot in touch from a kick in behind from scrum half Leith.  The Shire did end up scoring first thanks to some great play but soon fell asleep and Mackie quickly started piling on the pressure, kicking a couple of penalties.

The Shire came together in the end thanks to some harsh words from our modest Captain who told me to mention his all round great performance during the game (as apparently the fans never tire of hearing about his athletic accomplishments).

Saturday’s cup game against Harris FP in neighbouring Dundee was an opportunity to get the season back on track with some game time seriously needed after a long lay off. The snow and frost that has been hampering the league campaign finally succumbed to spring like temperatures this meant it was close to perfect playing conditions.

Shire should have been more aware of ‘cup mentality’ coming up against a lower league side with only one loss this season. Their team talk would have been the most rehears thought all clubs on a cup day…’’tackle hard, disrupt the brake down and play with confidence as it’s a one of game!’’

Harris buoyed by a good crowed started with these words ringing in their ears. Shire looked sluggish and disbanded so subsequently are caught cold in the early exchanges with Harris benefiting from two contentious refereeing decisions to convert from square in front of the posts.

After yet another week off due to the ever-becoming frustrating weather conditions, Aberdeenshire were raring to continue their league campaign at home against Crieff and Strathearn. Facing them for the second time this season Shire knew what to expect after coming on top 38-5 away from home the last time they met, however, with Coach Eric Strachan’s wise warnings of complacency the team was determined not to underestimate the mid-table team.

The game kicked-off with a rather unconventional drop-kick as the ball was tapped just two metres in an attempt to catch out the shire backs. It was worth a try, but didn’t work out quite as effectively as the Crieff fly-half had possibly been dreaming. The Shire backs were quick to react and eventually Shire gained their first share of the good possession on their opponents 22. From here, a well worked move from the back of a scrum and some silky smooth running skills demonstrated by Baxendale saw him score the opening try of the match.

The fist game of 2009 brought with it a number of absentees; including the experience of James Broadribb, Robbie Anderson and Steve Penney, however, the team was ecstatic to be met with the long-awaited return of Alex 'Chunky' Moore and Gary Leith to lift moral and certainly the average age of the team!

The Shire team started poorly, whether this was due to complacency of playing a team in the bottom half on the league or whether too many selection boxes had been consumed over the Christmas break is unclear. Shire could not recover position and for the first time this season, the team found themselves conceding the first try of a game at Woodside – fortunately it went unconverted. Shire managed to lift their performance after this with Rory Chalmers and Josh Selby recovering a pinpoint restart from Stefan Cole but it was not long before Martyn Snell was accidentally injured in a collision with an anonymous Shire player.

After a month of game cancellations, the Shire team were relieved that this last league game before the Christmas break was given the go ahead. The most recent Kiwi import, the tights wearing Josh Selby made his debut, requiring the successful Shire pack to be rearranged, with the increasingly utile Andrew Cooke moving to centre. Shire were also without the experience and chatter of scrum-half Gary Leith who still hadn't recovered from an ankle knock he received before for cold spell kicked in. Mally White came in at 9 for a welcome return to his favoured position.

The game got underway but the weather did not promise the most free flowing game of rugby but Shire were keen to try and collect the five points for the second time this season from local rivals Garioch. The poor conditions and lack of match sharpness, allowed Garioch the chance to go ahead early on with a wide penalty – the kick, while accurate, fell short of the posts.

Once apon a time on a rather surprisingly pleasant sunny Scottish 'SUNDAY' yes you are reading correctly Sunday morning the lads from Aberdeenshire RFC set off in their bus to do battle against Stirling University in a previously postponed regular season league match. If the warm-up was anything to go by the lads were defiantly still getting to grips of the fact that it was Sunday morning and most were still half asleep. So with a brief run about a few passes of the ball and a chance to shake off the cobwebs the toss done the boys from the Shire were ready to kick off and do battle.

The first half was saw a lot of tactical kicking by the Uni side which had the Shire turning to chase a lot and intentions made clear by the students early on. With most of Shire's ball kept in hand and sent to the midfield to the vastly experienced pair of Anderson and Broadribb to try and slice through a very solid Stirling back line, they found absolutely no way through their line at all.

Aberdeenshire got off to a very slow start giving away a mountain of penalty's in the first 20 mins of the game.  Although discipline from a few players wasn't great, the whole team's tackling was up to standards and barely missed there first up tackles.  Shire were forced back in there own 22 for the majority of the first half but with some hard hits from the back line and great counter rucking from the forwards, Shire stole the ball and got it clear from their half.  Shire won very few line outs through the jumpers but a few were stolen from the back.  Shire then switched on, and gained some valuable yards due to great hands from the back line and forwards winning the rucks. Jimmy Cradik then got some clean ball and plenty of time to chip the ball over the defense and the try line and Stuart Maclugash dived on it to give Shire the first points of the game and with Smith kicking in the conversion put Shire up 7-0 just before the break.

At half time some valuable points were made by coach Ryan Mountain which made the lads eager to start the second half better than the first. But once again Shire's heads weren't in the game and were over committing in the rucks and giving away silly penalty's.  Blairgowrie’s backs then had lots of space to get it out wide to the winger, and with some pace they managed to get 2 try's past the Shire line but none of them were converted making the score 7 - 10.  Still Shire's discipline let them down and with penalty after penalty due to players not getting back 10 metres Shire found themselves once again getting pushed back into their 22.  The team then started to listen to each other and their coach and pushed back Blairgowrie with the backs putting pressure on, Blairgowrie made mistakes and Shire punished them for it by booting the ball out of there half.  The forwards were making good ground through some fantastic line out jumping from the Shire locks and persistently steeling ball in the last 15 mins.  Chris Farman then broke through the Blairgowrie line with some power and got into the 5 meter channel, the Shire forwards kept taking the ball into rucks and Chris Farman along with Paul Harrow then drove themselves over the try line but it was disallowed due accidental offside. Shire kept in the 5 metre channel but the forwards kept getting pushed back little by little and then got turned over at the ruck.  However with some superb scrummaging Paul Harrow got the ball at 9 and went over the try line twice but both attempts were disallowed.  With 5 minuets left, Shire still a few points behind and in the opposing teams 5 metre line the whole team was determent to get another try past the Blairgowrie defense.  The Shire forwards proving to be the more dominant pack won the ball once again in the scrum, Paul Harrow passed it out to the backs and Liam Smith went for it but was taking to ground, Paul Harrow then went for the run side-stepping the winger but was caught by the centres but managed to off load to Cradik who went over the line for the winning score. This put shire 12 - 10 with just minutes left of the game.  When the whistle went Shire celebrated being 3 points clear at the top of the league.

Aberdeenshire started this seasons cup campaign with a tough local derby against the students of Aberdeen University. After Shires first competitive defeat last week and with several players away at the Scotland vs. New Zealand this was going to be a tough test for the Woodside team.

Stand in captain Mike Roulston decided Shire would play away from the club house in the first half and Matt Healey (playing his last game for Shire), playing at Stand-Off kicked off the game. Shire started well putting pressure on the Uni straight from the start, up in their faces with the forwards getting good front foot ball. This paid off with some quick pick and goes by the Shire pack producing good front foot ball with Steven Cook driving over the line within the first five minutes. With Stefan Cole away this week kicking duties were left to Matt Healey who narrowly missed the conversion. A few positional changes also occurred with Robbie Anderson being injured after the first try and Martyn Snell coming on and moving to Stand-Off and Healey moved to outside centre.

Aberdeenshire U17s took on Nairn in their first league game of the season. After a loss to Ellon in a pre season friendly the Shire players were adamant to prove themselves to their Coach and Manager, Ryan Mountain, and to the rest of in the league that they are the team to beat.

Shire received the kick off with the wind in their faces and instantly applied a lot of pressure on the Nairn defense but unfortunately conceding an early penalty due to a lack of discipline, bringing the score to 3-0 to Nairn.Straight from the restart Shire recovered the ball with some impressive counter rucking by Chris Simpson and Chris Farman. A crash ball then followed by Ben Thomson who crashed through several tackles and offloaded to scrumhalf, Paul Harrow, who easily won the race to the Nairn try line to score his first of four tries in the match.

As the wind began to drop 20 minutes into the half Shire picked up the pace of their game to apply even more pressure on Nairn. Several more tries were scored by the ambitious young side. Including one from replacement Sam Stephen and a second from Paul Harrow putting Shire even further ahead.

The second half started off with the wind down to a slight breeze and Aberdeenshire ready to put in another big performance after showing what they are capable of in the first half.

Once again Shire started off strong shutting down Nairn every time they got the ball and turning it over a majority of the time. A few knock ons meant some scrimmaging was required but Shire came out victorious, winning some good turnover ball. Ben Thomson crashed it up with good support from his flankers and Paul Harrow used the quick ball to run in for his third try.

Jimmy Crocket, Liam Smith, and Sam Stephen, with some strong running and good foresight all slotted over for a try. In the last 25 minutes of the game Paul Harrow, Chris Farman, and Ben Thomson all ran over to add to Shire’s lead and put the game to rest. Liam Smith and Paul Harrow both converted their own tries but unfortunately all other attempts at converting failed.

Manager Ryan Mountain wanted to make sure that the following players were mentioned, hooker Thomas Dugdale for a flawless performance in the set piece and the loose, lock Rich Flett for excellent lineout work, flanker Chris Farman for his work rate and support play around the pitch, Ben Thomson for a superb 8th man performance, Ashley Wiles for a confident display in the back 3 and Jimmy Crocket for his control at 10 and finishing off the try of the match. It must also be said that Ryan had positive things to say about every member of the squad so this was definately a complete team performance.

Hopefully Aberdeenshire can carry this tremendous performance forward and take the same attitude into their next game. This will be played against Blairgowrie at home on Sunday 16th November.

The clearest Saturday of the season saw unbeaten Aberdeenshire travel to St Andrews to play third placed St Andrews University who had now gone 3 games without loss.  The weather promised a high paced game which would allow for the Shire backs to show their flare after a series of games dominated by bad weather conditions and forward play.

Shire received the first half kick off playing up hill and were immediately penalised by the referee for bridging, a theme which dominated the first half with the Uni team receiving countless penalties and pinning Shire back inside their own half.  The Shire defence yet again held strong as the Uni mounted attacks in midfield yet indiscipline handed the Uni too many penalties and an argument with the referee towards the end of the half saw Shire marched back 10 yards and brought the Uni within kicking distance.  The Uni kicker found his range and kicked his first penalty from 4 attempts to put shire down 3-0.  Shire kicked off and immediately became more of an attacking threat attacking the blindside with force through the forwards and the backs too gaining hard yards with some impressive handling.  Shire were rewarded with a penalty on the stroke of half time but failed to convert the opportunity into 3 points to go into half time 3-0 down. Half time substitutions saw injured captain Craig Livingston and prop Andrew Sutherland changing out for Duncan Coull and Russell Hempsey.

Shire kicked off the second half and immediately responded to coach Strachan's frank and positive team talk by looking more dangerous and committed. A number of good breaks by the backs and intelligent kicking pinned the Uni back in their half and a penalty to Shire allowed Cole, amidst his blushes due to being likened to Dan Carter from the home support, to level the score 3-3.  More pressure from Shire and piercing runs from MacLugash brought another penalty Shires way but this one crept wide of the post.  A lineout on the Uni 22 allowed Shire to trial a new lineout move which fed Andrew Cook down the 5 metre line, he crossed the line for a touchdown but the referee brought the play back for a foot in touch.  Kicking dominated the end quarter with both teams looking for mistakes from their respective fullbacks in this pressure packed encounter.  Shire introduced Broadribb to the game at outside centre and he made an immediate impact, breaking through the Uni backline, drawing the last defender and offloading to Steve Penny who crossed the line only to be pulled back for a very harsh forward pass call.  A Uni kick behind the Shire defence into the 22 saw Shire gather and recycle the ball but the eagle eyed referee spotted an incident at the bottom of the ruck and awarded a penalty to the home side right in front of the posts.  The Uni kicker struck the ball cleanly and made the score 6-3 with 5 minutes to play.  Shire continued to press for the last 5 minutes some dominating forward play saw a gain of some 30 meters before releasing the backs for a final flourish, Broadribb again broke the line but the pass to the wing didn’t go to hand.  Uni took the chance to clear their line and with that the final whistle sounded to call time on the extremely tight encounter. Sadly the French whistle blower had far too much influence on the final result even if the Shire discipline and composure wasn't good enough on the day.

The first loss of the season leaves Shire still top of the table, the team must now show character and maturity to bounce back.  A local derby cup match against Aberdeen University at home this Saturday the 8th November promises another tough encounter and all support would be welcomed.

In a game lost 6-3 a comment a referee made toward the start of the season having been impressed by a disciplined Shire side is brought to mind – for a disciplined side, not talking back to the ref is worth 3 points a game. However the team can take encouragement from the very strong and positive 2nd half performance after an uneasy start to the game. Also it must be noted that the Shire line wasn't crossed again and against one of the more attack minded teams in the league. Yes a loss but still important positives can be taken on and discipline issues will be addressed as none of the team wants to have the gutting feeling of loosing a game they did enough to win again this season.

Aberdeenshire hosted the previous seasons relegated National 3 side Madras Academy FP's for only their third home game of the season. Off the back of an tremendous win over Orkney in Kirkwall, Shire had to keep the pace up once more to keep the undefeated record rolling.
 
Shire kicked off into the strong wind and away from the club house. The pack applied a lot of pressure during the first 15 minutes leading to two tries, one scored by Robbie ''Sparrow'' Anderson after a tight head scrum in the Madras 22 which was moved quickly along the backline. The second of which was scored by "Big Dogg" Andy Sutherland from some excellent play off the back of a preset lineout move which consisted off Hooker Shaun Mountain looping round the back to find Openside Andrew Cook in support to make some hard yards followed by the crucial 'dynamic' pick and go from Sutherland that took the boys further into the lead. The Shire boys kept on the pressure by pinning Madras in their 22.

Shire started their day with a 3.45am meet at Harlaw Academy, what was most surprising was that there was only the Cook brothers who were guilty of sleeping in. Team moral took an early dip when on arrival at Tesco in Inverness we discovered that the café was shut. So the most anticipated fry up in Club Rugby history could only remain a dream. There were reports of tears in Shaun Mountain’s eyes.

With everyone making it to Scrabster on time to catch the ferry the team hit the high sea’s for the 90minute crossing to Orkney. Shire started the game with a strong wind at there back and were soon camped in the Orkney half. Shire were then awarded a penalty but the kick for goal from Cole was pushed wide by the wind. From the resulting 22, Shire kept up the pressure and were shortly awarded another penalty from practically the same position as the first one. Despite the terrified look in Cole’s eye’s when asked to step up and have another go he eventually settled his nerves and slotted the penalty over to give Shire a 0-3 lead. Shire’s very own Orkadian, Mally White, was eager to get involved in the game out on the right wing but with his first touch of the ball the Orkney No. 8 smashed the wee loon leaving him with a bust lip and not the sort of welcome home he was wanting.

With Shire dominating the lineouts and scrums as well as making good use of the wind the majority of the game was being spent in the Orkney half. Despite all the possession, territory and some good breaks from young Cook and Steve Penney Shire were unable to breach the Orkney line and had to settle for one more score from the boot of Cole to give them a 0-6 halftime lead.

The 2nd half started with Shire knowing that they were going to have to keep it tight and rumble there way up the park due to the conditions. Orkney were awarded an early penalty but luckily it was blown off target by the wind. Shire continued to control the scrum, lineout and breakdown but due to the wind were pegged back at the start of the first half. This eventually led to the first try of the game as the Orkney stand off glided through the Shire defence to score under the posts, and with the resulting conversion successfully taken Shire found themselves 7-6 down. However Shire rallied and the forward pack got the fire in there bellies going and they started making the hard yards towards the Orkney try line. This eventually ended with a penalty being awarded in the Orkney 22 which Cole slotted home for Shire to regain the lead 7-9. The game now became a battle between both forward packs with both teams showing full commitment in the contact area. Orkney were awarded a few more kickable penalties but were unable to convert any of them. The Shire pack once more rumbled up the park which eventually led to Shaun Mountain crossing the try line however to the Hookers dismay the referee judged him to have been held up. The team were left to ponder what could have been if he had managed to get his fry up in the morning possibly the extra weight he would have gained could have helped to get the ball down! The referee started to over penalise both packs for hands in the ruck which eventually lead to the sin bin of Mike Roulston, who at his age should know better.

With Roulston off the park the decision was made to remove Ben Morris from the wing who up to that point had been making a huge impact in the game and bring back on Duncan “sit down to pee” Coull. With only 10 minutes to go and despite being down to 14 men the Shire pack made one more foray into the Orkney half which led to Andy Cook driving over to score Shires only try of the game. Unfortunately Cole was unable to slot the conversion but Shire were now 7-14 ahead.

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.