A near two-month absence from competitive rugby would perhaps have you believe that this league fixture would be a slow burner.
But Perthshire returned to play their part in an enthralling game against Hillhead Jordanhill and one where both teams went hammer and tongs for the duration.
Despite a lack of digits on the scoreboard, the Eagles soared in battle and were gutted to have no points to show for their efforts across the afternoon.
Hillhead had the majority of possession in the first half but seldom has a Shire team exhibited so much passion and skill in defence. Time after time, they repelled everything the visitors could throw at them.
There was an early injury blow to speak of when James Armstrong, who was making his comeback, was carted off in the first five minutes and that resulted in a reshuffle of the backs.
Jonny Armitt, celebrating his birthday with a confident and excellent all round display, soon made a bone-crunching tackle to save a certain try and this set the tone for the rest of the game.
Shire’s forwards stepped up to the plate with the front five doing all the unheralded work to contain the opposition.
The back row of Calum Chalmers, James Mair and man of the match Matt Jenns ensured that every ball was contested and they gave no ground to the strong Hillhead pack.
It was desperate backs to the wall stuff and the referee seemed to be penalising Shire every time they went near the ball.
With a half-time score of 0–0, people could have been excused if they were thinking this was a dull, boring game. It was anything but.
Kieran Ramsay brought fresh impetus to the forwards when he came on and Armstrong, who had shaken off his earlier injury, went on to the wing and injected a new threat.
As a result, Shire had much more attacking presence as the game went on and tested the Hillhead defence with their strong running.
Skipper Mat Rae was proving a handful and young Andrew Sanderson, like all good scrum halves, was scrapping away with his opposite number at every opportunity and providing good ball for the backs.
Ross Goodison was full of elusive running and Armstrong continued to be a menace on the wing. Unfortunately, he was yellow carded on 50 minutes for an innocuous offence and Shire had to dig even deeper.
But it was promising to see such a fighting resolve and there was no way they were going to lie down to the pressure.
Shire scored what would have been a monumental try and every player on the park, along with the spectators, were certain it was good. However, the one man who mattered, the referee, thought otherwise.
Still, the forwards grew stronger as the game progressed and a yellow card for Hillhead’s hooker added to the impetus.
Just as it looked as though a draw was inevitable, Hillhead at last broke the Shire defence to score. The clock then seemed to tick on well past the 80 minutes and a further blow was another late try to rob the losing bonus point.
To come away from this encounter with nothing to show for it would be a huge disappointment but the squad can take great credit for a fighting display.
