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News Article |
| MUNTLY U13S CLOSE THE SEASON WITH SLIM VICTORY OVER TOURISTS |
| Wed 2nd May 2018 |
 Moray/Huntly U13s brought the Muntly 15-a-side season to a close when entertaining Balfron and Strathendrick at Morriston last Sunday,who had made the trip north from Glasgow on a short tour.
The opening ten minutes saw Muntly get away to a flyer and open up a commanding lead.
Bullocking runs by Clark and Anderson took play deep into opposition territory and with a quick recycle of the ball, winger McBain was set away on the left and he outflanked the defence to register the opener under the posts. Reid duly added the conversion.
McBain was soon on the scoresheet once more, when, after excellent Muntly defensive pressure, he intercepted a loose Balfron pass and showed a clean pair of heels to all to score his second of the afternoon.
Clearly, it was taking Balfon some time to get into the game and Muntly soon stretched their lead further after excellent interplay between forwards and backs; accurate rucking and neat handling to the right saw fly-half Reid collect a return pass on the loop and sprint into the corner.
 With Muntly clearly thinking that their work for the afternoon, they were soon given a wake-up call from Balfron, who were starting put together some neat phases of play, gain significant territory and move the ball well.
With the Muntly defence being caught far too narrow, smart handling saw the Balfron Winger reduce the arrears with a fine try on the left.
The second period was a far tighter affair; Muntly had lost some of their shape and their teamwork was starting to suffer, as a significant number of turnovers were conceded at the breakdown to a tenacious Balfronpack.
The accurate Muntly rugby basics of the first period had been replaced by ambitious and over-complicated play in attack, a lack of organisation in defence and persistent infringements to place themselves on the wrong end of the referees whistle.
But for fine defensive efforts from Elvines, Eadon and Muckle, Balfron may have played themselves into a significant lead prior to the break. As it was Muntly held firm until the last minute, when once again Balfron exploited space on the left to go over in the corner.
The final period was a tense affair. With a single score separating the two sides as Muntly kicked-off, both sides had opportunities to take the upper hand; Garrick made half of the length of the pitch before being hauled down and stout MacKillop and Edwards cover prevented the Balfron flyer escaping for what seemed a certain try.
Eventually Balfron broke the deadlock after exerting a period of consistent pressure on the Muntly line.
 Despite several turnovers, Muntly were unable to clear the ball and Balfron surged towards the left corner once more; with the initial drive being held up just short, a dart over from the break-down saw them within one point, only a single conversion being the difference between the 2 teams.
With the grim prospect of defeat in their final fixture of the season, but aware that time was short, Muntlyroused themselves to the levels of the opening 10 minutes and surged forward with Clark immediately at the restart; a neat off-load and pass to McBain, cutting in on the angle, saw him scoot in under the posts to complete his hat-trick and effectively make the tie safe.
Aware that they could still manage a draw with the last play of the match if they could manage a converted try, Balfron surged forward; however, the Muntly tackling held firm and after the ball was ripped, a neat kick to touch from Hutcheon brought proceedings to a close.
 An extremely hard fought and entertaining match saw Muntly the victors by 13-9 in a game that could have gone either way.
The Muntly U13 and U14 season will draw to a close with participation in the Moray 7s, Sunday 13th May at Morriston Playing Fields.
Gregor Clark (C), Logan Duncan, Fergus Penny, Linton Muckle, Peter Edwards Jake Harrison, Mylo McBain, Euan May, Charlie Anderson, Thomas Eadon, Jenson Fathers, Mostyn Findlater, Grant Hendry, Alasdair Hutcheon, Murdo Reid, Leon Ross, Evan Sykes, Blair Garrick, Joe Elvines, Callum Robson, Lewie Austin
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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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