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News Article |
| MORAY 43 BANFF 12 |
| Wed 26th Mar 2014 |
Moray ended their RBS Caledonia League Division 2 North season on a high with a comfortable 43 points to 12 win over Banff at Morriston last weekend.
The Elgin side showed early intent when they camped inside the opposition 22 and made a number of drives at the line only to be held out by stout defence.
In the 8th minute, they broke the defence when No 8 Ross Joy drove round the side of a ruck and offloaded to wing-forward Neil Wiseman to score the try.
Full-back Andrew McBean added the conversion points for a 7-0 lead.
It looked ominous for the visitors but their experienced stand-off kicked well from hand and put them into good attacking positions.
In the 13th minute, they progressed to a line out, 5 metres out. Clean ball was taken and after a couple of quick drives, they crossed the line for an unconverted try, reducing the lead to 7-5.
Moray were finding hard to secure ball and in the 25th minute, they conceded a second try. Banff's blindside flanker took ball on the charge, 15 metres out and broke through some loose tackling to score under the posts.
The additional conversion points were added to take the score to 7-12.
The Elgin side slowly began to play themselves back into the game and with a Banff man in the bin, scored to retake the lead.
Clean line out ball was taken on the half way and moved wide. A double switch move created the space for centre Joe Macari to make the break. On being tackled, he offloaded to the supporting McBean who glided through the gap to score under the posts.
He added the conversion points for a 14-12 lead.
On the stroke of half-time, the visitors were penalised for offside at the breakdown inside their 22. McBean stepped up and landed the penalty for a 17-12 lead.
Within a minute of the restart, Moray stretched their lead.
Stand-off Marc Higgins kicked deep into the opposition 22. The Banff wing scurried back and under pressure from the home attack, kicked poorly straight into the hands of prop Connor Cameron. He ran straight back at the defenders and offloaded to Macari to score out wide.
McBean landed the difficult kick for a 24-12 lead.
The home side were now in control of the game and in the 58th minute scored their fourth and the bonus point winning try.
Play progressed into the 22 where the visitors were penalised for offside.
Higgins quickly took a tap and moved the ball wide. Captain Aled Herbert received the ball out wide and did well to squeeze in for an unconverted score in the corner, taking the lead to 29-12.
Five minutes later, substitute centre Laurie McCutcheon scored after good driving play down the right side was quickly opened and he found space in the middle of the park to score.
With McBean adding the conversion points, the score moved to 36-12.
Moray rounded off the scoring in the 70th minute with arguably the best try of the afternoon.
The move started with a break from inside their 22 and was finished off by Higgins after he took an inside pass which opened up the final line of defence.
McBean added the conversion for 43-12 which with no further points being added became the final score.
Moray got off to great start in the match and took the early lead. Banff responded well to this early pressure and for a large part of the first half competed well and deservedly got their noses in front.
The home forwards faced up to the challenge, scrummaged well and young hooker Jason Stanley did well in taking a number of strikes against the head.
With ball in hand, the back line always looked dangerous and took the tries well.
With the 15 a side season finished for Moray, they will turn to playing in any 7s tournaments. A Moray 7s has been resurrected and will take place on Saturday 5th April.
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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 |
|
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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