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News Article |
| ABERDEENSHIRE 28 MORAY 13 |
| Thu 16th Dec 2021 |
 Moray suffered their first defeat of the season when they lost by 28 points to 13 against Aberdeenshire at Woodside last Saturday in a hard-fought Tennent’s Caledonia North Region Division 2 fixture.
The Elgin side kicked off in terrible weather conditions and quickly regained the ball and put together a number of driving phases for the line but unfortunately a knock-on turned ball over and the chance was gone.
 A penalty to Shire in the 6th minute allowed them to prod the ball to a line-out, 15 metres out. Clean ball was taken by the tall line-out jumper and following a number of phases, the line was broken and the ball slipped inside to No 8 Andrew Cook who made the line for a converted try and a 7-0 lead.
Moray rallied, applying pressure in the home half and in the 19th minute, stand-off Rory Millar reduced the lead to 7-3 when he landed a penalty for hands in a ruck.
The visitors continued to put together some good passages of play and left-wing Calum Archibald was unfortunate not to finish off a great run from his own 22 when he was stopped just short of the try-line.
 Two minutes from halftime, however, the Aberdeen team stretched their lead. Good ground was made to take them into the 22. Following a number of drives by their big pack, Cook scored a second converted try for a half-time score of 14-3.
Aberdeenshire started the second half strongly through a lot of hard running by their forwards and after 10 minutes, increased their lead further. Several phases of play took them over the goal-line but the defence stood strong and held them up for a goal-line drop out. Unfortunately, the drop-kick was sliced and went straight to touch giving an attacking scrum 5. Clean ball was taken and Cook broke blind and scored another converted try for 21-3.
 The home side continued to press but slowly the Moray side came more and more into the game. In the 68th minute they reduced the leeway. Good continuity play took them into the 22 to a penalty, 5 metres out. A quick tap was taken, and set, then moved blind quickly to full-back Archie Duncan who found the room to score an unconverted try for 21-8.
This gave the visitors impetus and 4 minutes later, they scored again. Shire conceded another penalty in their 22 which was taken quickly and a simple pass later saw back-row Calum Smith break through and touch down. The Aberdeen team quickly got off the line to charge down the conversion attempt to leave the score at 21-13.
 With two minutes to the full-time whistle, the Elgin side were pushed back into their own 22 and forced to run the ball from their own goal-line. A knock-on in the quickly darkening conditions gave the home side an attacking scrum, 10 metres out. Ball was picked up at the base and a swift pass to scrum-half Paul Harrow allowed him to make the line for a converted try and final 28-13 score line.
The very cold and very wet weather conditions on the day had made it difficult for Moray to play their normal expansive game. The Aberdeen side made good use of strong running by their forwards and centres, and had made the most of their opportunities. The win means that Aberdeenshire now sit top of the league by 2 points but the Elgin side do have a game in hand.
 The next league fixture for Moray is another big game against Highland Raptors, in Inverness, on Saturday 8th January.
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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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