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News Article |
| MORAY 24 RAF LOSSIEMOUTH 24 |
| Mon 17th Nov 2014 |
A very competitive BT Caledonia League Division 2 North fixture and local derby between Moray and RAF Lossiemouth at Morriston last Saturday finished all square at 24 points apiece.
The flyers kicked off and the first quarter of the match was a very physical affair with both defences coping well.
In the 24th minute, however, the home side took the lead at 3-0 when wing Andrew McBean landed a penalty after the Lossie backs were caught offside.
Within three minutes, the visitors reciprocated and Michael Lee landed a penalty to tie the scores at 3-3.
In the 30th minute, the RAF side took the lead. The ball was secured in midfield and a backs move saw Lee make the line in the corner. He converted his own try for a 3-10 lead.
The visitors had the upper hand at this stage and on the stroke of half time, they added to their lead. Their big second row breached the first line of the home defence and sprinted for the line. He was tackled and taken down just short of the line but with Moray hands on the ball gave the penalty was awarded. A quick tap was taken and Stewart Kelly made the line. Lee added the conversion points for a 3-17 lead, the half time score.
The Elgin side looked to up the pace of the game in the second period and within a minute of the restart had reduced the lead to 6-17 when McBean landed a penalty after a 'hands in the ruck' penalty.
Four minutes later, however, Lossie stretched their lead. A Moray attack from within their own half saw spilled ball snapped up by the visiting forwards. A couple of attacks were made at the line before Lee found a gap and scored his second try of the afternoon. He converted his own try for a 6-24 lead.
The RAF side seemed to have the game tied up but the home side had other thoughts and they returned to the offensive and forced their way to 10 metres out around the 50th minute mark. Some strong scrummaging allowed a back row pick up and No 8 Ross Joy got over the line but was held up. From the resultant scrum, the Elgin side put their opponents under extreme pressure and after a number of infringements, the referee awarded a penalty try. McBean added the conversion points, reducing the lead to 13-24.
It was Moray who were now the more prominent and in the 62nd minute, McBean narrowed the lead to 16-24 after a high tackle.
The RAF side were under pressure and were leaking a number of penalties which eventually lead to a sin binning.
With 11 minutes to go, the home side were awarded another penalty, this time for an offside offence. McBean landed the kick for 19-24 for the home side to be within a converted try of the lead.
Moray pushed hard looking for the winning score and in the 78th minute kicked a
penalty to a line-out, 5 metres out. Clean ball was taken and a couple of drives made for the line. Laurie McCutcheon picked up the ball for a third drive and he breached the defence and scored. McBean's attempt at the conversion from the touchline agonisingly scraped past the right hand upright leaving the score at 24-24.
In the final play of the game, Lossie forced their way to 5 metres from the line but some strong tackling and scrummaging by the home side saw the game out.
Final score : Moray 24 RAF Lossiemouth 24.
It had been a hard and entertaining game of rugby between the second and third team in the league at present. The Lossie side had the better of the first half and scored two tries and after scoring a third early in second half, had looked favourites to go on and win. The Moray side, however, showed great character and endeavour to get back into the game and had dominated a large part of the second half. They came very close to winning the match but a draw was probably a fair result.
There is no fixture for Moray this Saturday but they are away to Aberdeen University the following Saturday (29th) to play the semi-final of the BT Caledonia Regional Bowl North.
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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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