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News Article |
| MORAY/HUNTLY U16 V KIRKCALDY U16 |
| Wed 22nd Feb 2017 |
Moray and Huntly’s combined under 16 team faced the biggest game of their season against Kirkcaldy in the Caledonian Shield match at Huntly.
Muntly had not played a competitive match in 2017 but came together as a formidable team, beating the visitors 40-14.
Early exchanges were even until Daniel Cotton broke from outside centre to round two defenders and hand off the Kirkcaldy fullback to score under the posts. Paul Van West converted.
Kirkcaldy worked their way into the Muntly 22 at the restart but the home defence stayed strong, with David Kaniewski breaking several tackles to take the pressure off.
Kirkcaldy were strong at the breakdown and a succession of penalties came from isolated Muntly players not releasing in the tackle.
The Kirkcaldy approach was to tap and go, turning the Muntly defence. However, the home defence remained unbroken and a turnover lead to the ball being shipped swiftly through the hands of the backs again, with Cotton once again breaking from his own half. Sidesteps off both legs cleared another route through to the Kirkcaldy try line. This time, the conversion from wide was missed.
There was not much between the teams at this stage and this was proved by the Kirkcaldy backs. Again, breakdown discipline lead to a penalty, which the Kirkcaldy scrum half moved wide.
The Muntly defence was stretched, this time to breaking point and a converted score under the posts brought the score to 12-7.
It was not long until Muntly were again pressuring in the Kirkcaldy 22.
Aidan O’Hare saw a space and split the defence, only to be brought down inches from the try line, with Muntly unable to convert the pressure into points this time.
It was not only Muntly who conceded penalties. Coming in from the side gave Muntly a penalty in the centre of the Kirkcaldy half. Calum Parkin at scrum half saw the space on the left, as did stand off Bruce Burgoyne, who fed Cotton to complete a first half hat trick.
Cotton was one of several lined up available to score on this occasion. Paul Van West slotted the conversion to bring the half to an end, with Huntly leading 19-7.
The challenge was for Muntly to maintain the high standard of rugby through the second half.
There was no doubt that this would be a close game and both teams were looking for weaknesses in the opposition.
A rehearsed back row move at the scrum saw Parkin link with Van West charging on the angle to wrong foot the Kirkcaldy midfield and score under the posts. Van West went on to convert his own try.
Muntly now wanted to close this game out. Any sniff of a break from Kirkcaldy was dealt with by the Muntly back row of Sam Henderson, Jake Devlin and Adam Christie. All were looking to test the visitors and with the three working as a unit, gave the Muntly backs a strong foundation to work from.
Again it was this hard work from the Muntly pack which gave the room to Daniel Cotton to stretch his legs and outpace the chasing defenders to the line. By now the game was won but Muntly didn’t take their foot off the gas.
It was the home team’s desire to pressure the visitors which led to Cotton gambling on an interception. His instincts were right and he was away before any Kirkcaldy players could give chase.
The final score of the game went to Kirkcaldy. Direct running brought them to the Muntly try line and a pile up meant that the referee could not see a clear grounding. From the resultant scrum on the Muntly 5m a number 8 pickup gave Kirkcaldy an overlap on the blind side.
This was a confident competent performance from Muntly. It was the strongest team they have been able to put out all season.
The points were shared between two players but make no mistake, the input of all players was essential to the victory.
Recent additions to the squad, in David Kaniewski and Haydn Milton, added strengthto the team as they continue to gel together as a unit.
Muntly can move forward to the Quarter Final of the BT Caledonia Shield on 5th March with confidence that things are finally coming together.
Team: Alex McDonald, Frankie Gillespie, Dan Cotton, Paul Van West (Capt), Charlie Burgoyne, Bruce Burgoyne, Calum Parkin, Ewan Casburn, Alex Logie, Fergus Nicol, Adam Christie, Aiden O’Hare, Archie Wilson, Jake Devlin, Sam Henderson, Nick Anderson, David Kaniewski, Haydn Milton.
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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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