Lasswade rate 95% for consistency with this scoreline having beaten Perthshire 32-10 in the opening Premier 3 game last year. Their opponents went on to win just two games that season ending up bottom of the Division and only escaping relegation because of the League reorganisation. There was no room for complacency at Hawthornden, though, since one of those two games was a 30-8 drubbing for them in the away fixture.
Gavin Brown led the home side out again for his second season as captain and most of the squad were regulars in last season’s fixtures. Exceptions were Derek O’Riordan, assistant coach/No. 8, and Kyle Mackinnon at prop (both, ironically, having transferred from Perthshire) while Mark Wilson made his debut on the right wing, stepping up from Lasswade Colts.
Perthshire kicked off towards Roswell with a steady but gentle breeze at their backs and a firm well grassed-pitch beneath. They quickly regained possession and their main danger man soon made his presence felt as Shane Imo, the Brisbane-born stand-off, set up his centres for flashing breaks through the home back line.
With just three minutes gone, all in the Lasswade 22, the Perthshire pressure paid off when an attempted clearance from the five metre line was charged down and then fumbled by the defence leaving Hay an easy pick up and touchdown beside the post for an inevitable conversion by Whitelaw.
The Perthshire assault continued from the re-start, but the Lasswade fifteen began to read and contain the lines of attack and make some headway of their own especially up front in the forward exchanges.
On the quarter hour the home side were held up over the opposition line and from the five metre scrum, O’Riordan picked up and drove over for a classic No 8 try under the posts making Brown’s conversion a certainty.
Lasswade were playing the fluid, open rugby now and recycling ball at the breakdowns and dominating the set scrums. This was obvious when a set scrum on half way, early in the second quarter, was followed by a series of breaks and support running, leaving Hearn 15metres to dance round and through the last three defenders into the corner and initiate his claim on man-of-the-match.
The home side lost O’Riordan to a dislocated ankle a few minutes later and Perthshire revived enough to close the gap to two points when Whitelaw slotted a penalty and the 12-10 scoreline carried through to half time.
With the breeze to assist, most of the third quarter was in the visitors half or deeper but it needed a Lasswade staple, the short range catch-and-drive, to breach the line with the hour just past and Doug Grant claiming the points. Brown steered the ball from the touchline to shave the inside of the posts.
Completely on the back foot, Perthshire had no response to the fifteen-man barrage that followed and quick handling opened up space on the right wing for debutant Wilson to round the last man and secure the bonus try just three minute later.
The visitors managed to re-group and prevent a flood so Brown resorted to a long-range penalty to extend the lead to 27-10, which, with two minutes to go, seemed likely to be the final score.
Perthshire made one last effort to get some more from the match but were forced back to halfway and conceded a scrum, Now into stoppage time the hosts drove up the park but lost possession at a ruck, managed to get it back at the next tackle and Niall Gray emerged from the confusion to break down the left wing from 20 metres out to round off a near perfect start to the league campaign.
Lasswade are at Kirkcaldy this Saturday and have some groung to make up against the Fifeshire side. Kick-off 3.00pm