So, it seems an end of season run-down is in order. In all the excitement of general life and rugby newsteam failed miserably to report on the last 3 first XV games. Rest assured we were certainly present, living the rollercoaster of excitement, possibility and eventual heartbreak as the boys missed out on promotion in their final game against Dunfermline.
Having previously seen off Perthshire, 55-5, and played a stressful and highly entertaining fixture against league winners Kirkcaldy, winning 46-43 in the final moments, the possibility of promotion hung in the balance for the encounter with Dunfermline. Chosen one of the week number one, reflecting through the mists of time…was Stuart Ross. The No7 gets a pretty hard time in contention for the Chosen One award because he is consistently good, and newsteam expects nothing but the best from Fireman Stu. He was pretty nippy displaying a few overtaking manouevres to pass our regular winger, ahem…and was strong in the contact as ever, and showed how very versatile he is shifting out to the wing after the reshuffle due to injuries. He also showed the qualities that made him captain in Cammy’s absence, lifting the spirits of the younger players and keeping some shape and consistency in a very close game. Well done Stuart Ross 
Next up Chosen One of the week number 2 goes to Hazzy at hooker who had a good game in the loose, and scrummaged well.
Given that it was such a long time ago, and that I get a bit confused in all the excitement I may have mixed those two games up…but Chosen One’s stand anyway. Well done boys.
Finally, last Chosen One for the boys this season goes to Ally J who had a good game against Dunfermline despite breaking his nose in the first minute and losing what looked like considerable (in the bleeding nose stakes) blood loss, almost the entirety of which was lost over the first-aider, lucky she was wearing waterproofs…after the drama of trying to stop the blood Ally went back on and played very well on the wing, working well with aggressive defence and showing a desire to win and belief in his teammates that kept the team afloat in the final minutes as some heads began to drop. He set up the final try, rousing the team for the final offensive. It was too late unfortunately and Dunfermline ran out winners, but well done Ally.
The boys, and massive home crowd, were understandably upset and disappointed but the boys should be commmended on a good solid season, Coachoftheyearchiefkeith and side-kick Grant have a great base to build on for a successful 2009/10 season.
Well done to everyone who’s been involved in the first XV this season.
The 2nd XV fared considerably better and wrapped up a league win and promotion a few games before the end of the season, still managing to close out games after being crowned league champions. The 2’s have some real talent on show and undoubtedly a few of Cahoon and Gareth’s boys will be involved in the first XV next year, there’ll be some hard decisions in the squads next season. I haven’t seen many of their games this season but they looked on form against GHA last week. Special mention to Lois Legendre for a great rate of turnover ball in the lineout, Donald Pitkethly for some brutal tackling and strong running, to Scott and Hadden for some rapid pace on the wings and to Ally W for some good strong running in the centre.
Well done to all the 2nd XV squad, to silver bullet Cahoon and to Gareth.
