Being in a new league this season, the opposition we will come up against are an unknown quantity for us. Therefore, this was an important first sight to see how the next few months are likely to go.
Strathendrick immediately put to bed the reputation they had last season of always starting slow, by exerting early pressure from the kick off and scoring within the first few minutes with a typical Jack McVicar try. Reliably, Euan Budge converted the points. Within another five minutes, Strathendrick earned a penalty on the other wing and opted to nail home their advantage, again Euan Budge's left foot eased the nerves to secure a dominant start.
However Morrison's were still in it and on the ten minute mark scored a try of their own, which went unconverted. It was an open game and Strathendrick enjoyed much of the possession and putting into practice their desire to be much more creative in attack; they were soon rewarded with a converted George Thomson try. Again, Morrisons immediately replied with a converted try of their own thanks to a succession of missed tackles by Strathendrick. The whistle blew with scores tied at 17-17.
The half time team talk was positive but it was clear that the Strathendrick's depleted squad of absentees and walking wounded were going to have to dig deep in the second half. Morrison's scoring the first minute was not the start the boys needed.
Frustrations crept in and somehow the smallest man on the pitch was penalised for a high tackle and Alex Winning was given an imposed ten minutes on the touchline to catch his breath. With Strathendrick down to 14 players, Morrisons were ruthless in exploiting their player advantage and scored 14 points without reply.
With 30 players back on the field, Strathendrick looked to find their rhythm again; Peter Smith easing nerves on the touchline with a hard fought try in the left hand corner. Euan Budge converted, of course. However, this hard work was immediately undone by poor defending and missed tackles letting a now 14 man Morrison's score and convert.
With just five minutes left, a physically depleted side sitting with a 21 point deficit might have given up, but not this Strathendrick team. There was still time for Archie Horsburgh to score a try of his own and set the stage for Euan Budge to complete yet another 100% kicking display taking home 11 points of his own.

We were delighted to have one of our local Australia 2027 tour sponsors on the touchline today, taking valuable time out of work to present the PotM award. Thank you to Duncan and Rebecca McEwen from Arnprior for their continued and generous support of this team.

This week's PotM started last week on the bench but fought his was into the starting XV today and went on to deservedly earn PotM for his imperious performances in the lineout, dogged tackling and consistent support runs in attack. Well done Johnny Buckley!