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News Article |
| ABERDEEN GRAMMAR 2ND XV 29 MORAY 1ST XV 42 |
| Thu 13th Dec 2018 |
 A fine all-round display by Moray 1st XV produced a good 42-29 victory away to Aberdeen Grammar Rugby 2nd XV last Saturday, in their latest Tennent’s Caledonia League Division 2 North fixture.
The Aberdeen side started the stronger and after only 2 minutes took the lead when they landed a penalty kick for a 3-0 lead.
 Moray, playing with the wind in the first period, quickly gained a foothold in the game and had a couple of good opportunities but could not quite complete. In the 12th minute, however, they took the lead. Wing-forward Alex Stronach ripped ball at a maul in the home half and after a couple of driving phases by the forwards, the ball was opened through hands to Captain and centre, Marc Higgins, who broke the defence and scored. Stand-off Rory Millar added the conversion points for 3-7.
Four minutes later, Grammar retorted when their right wing made the corner for a converted try and 10-7.
 At this stage the game was end to end and in the 20th minute, the visitors retook the lead. Following a forward drive, centre Jonny Haslam received a pass and ran into the 22 and set up a ruck when tackled. The ball was quickly moved to Millar and he drifted through a gap in defence before returning the ball back inside to supporting Higgins, who made the line. Millar converted for 10-14.
The ding-dong battle continued and four minutes later, the Rubislaw side went ahead again at 17-14 when they scored a converted try.
 In a two-minute spell around the half hour mark, Moray not only regained the lead, but extended it, when they added two tries. The first emanated from poor discipline by the home side which allowed a penalty to be kicked to an attacking line, 15 metres out. Clean ball was taken and the forwards set up a drive for the line which was stopped 5 metres out. The ball was opened to the backs and Haslam took a great line to drift through the defence and score a converted try.
 The second followed when ball was regained from the restart and a double penalty allowed another attacking line in the 22. Ball was taken off the top, driven and set before being quickly moved wide to No 8 Neil Wiseman who barged his way over in the corner for the bonus point try. Millar superbly landed the kick from the touch-line for 17-28.
In the final minute of the first period, the visitors rounded off a great half when they scored their fifth try. Some good driving play by both forwards and backs was halted just metres from the line but the ball was moved quickly to Higgins who in contact offloaded to supporting full-back Lachlan Jones who took the gap and scored under the posts. With Millar adding the conversion points, Moray had a 17-35 half-time lead.
 Grammar now had the wind in their favour in the second half and immediately went about trying to get back into the game. The Elgin side were in no mood to relinquish their lead and put in a huge defensive effort as well as a very powerful scrummage display which kept their opponents at bay.
In the 63rd minute, Moray extended their lead further when they took advantage of one of the few real opportunities they had after the break. A line-out on the opposition 10 was driven up the blind side before being opened to Higgins. He spotted and went through the gap before offloading to supporting prop Mark Taylor who was tackled just short of the line but managed to stretch out and score. Millar added the extras for 17-42.
 Grammar returned to the offensive and managed to score two tries in the last 10 minutes, one converted, for a final score of Grammar 29 Moray 42
It had been a very good team display by the Moray side, built from strong defence and with six good tries being scored against a dangerous Grammar side. The scrum was strong all afternoon and they won not only their own ball but a number against the head. The backs were dangerous with ball in hand and ran some great lines to score tries. Special mention should go to ‘man of the match’ wing Ben Grundie who epitomised the defensive effort, tackling hard all afternoon and putting backs or forwards on the deck, even big second-rows.
 There is no fixture now for Moray 1st XV until the 12th January when they are away to Highland 2nds. This Saturday, however, Moray 2nd XV are at home to Peterhead in a Tennent’s Caledonia League Division 4 fixture with kick-off planned for 2pm.
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Caledonia 2 North |
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| Aberdeenshire |
12 |
46 |
| Highland 2nd XV |
11 |
46 |
| Moray |
12 |
40 |
| Ross Sutherland |
10 |
22 |
| Banff |
12 |
19 |
| Mackie |
10 |
10 |
| Aberdeen Grammar 2nd XV |
9 |
1 |
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Last 1st XV Game |
| 1st XV Season (2021/22) |
| Banff 33 - 39 Moray |
| 5th Mar 22 - KO: 15:00 |
| Venue: Duff House |
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