Panmure celebrate as promotion comes early

Panmure Rugby Club are celebrating this week after they became the first club in Scotland to win their championship and be promoted this season.

The Broughty Ferry based club won 25-0 at Waid Academy at the weekend to clinch their 11th win out of 11 league matches and leave them 27 points ahead of them at the top of RBS Caledonia Three Midlands.

With the league only consisting of seven teams it means that even if Waid were to win their three games in hand they cannot catch Panmure.

As a result, Panmure will be celebrating winning the trophy on 14 January when they host Bridgehaugh in their final league match.

Panmure coach Jim Michie said: “It is brilliant. I have been involved in rugby for a long time but I can not remember promotion ever being sealed before Christmas.

“I was brought into the club in the summer and I have tried to reinvigorate things. The team was getting on a bit so we managed to bring in a number of young players, such as the trio of lads from Annan who are studying at the University of Abertay, and a couple of school-leavers who hadn’t played rugby before, but who have come on leaps and bounds in a few months.”

In their 11 league matches to date they have scored 460 points and conceded just 80, with their biggest victory coming against Arbroath, 84-7 at the beginning of last month.

Panmure’s only blip on their copybook came when they lost in the RBS Caledonia Regional Bowl to Carnoustie.

Michie added: “The club is continuing to get stronger and we are even getting a second XV out now. My job after Christmas is to keep the players motivated given that the league ends so early and then get them ready for the step up.”