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News Article |
| MORAY U16 V BIGGAR U16 - 15/04/12 - NATIONAL BOWL ¼ FINAL |
| Wed 18th Apr 2012 |
 Moray u 16’s welcomed Biggar to Morriston on Sunday for the National Bowl ¼ final match.
On a day when 4 seasons of weather managed to pass through Elgin in 70 minutes it was the boys from Biggar who proved the strongest and won an enthralling game 35-22.
Biggar kicked off in a snowstorm and it was the Moray lads who continued the torrid welcome for the borderers with an opening 25 minutes of sublime rugby that saw them storm into a 22- 0 lead.
From the start Moray had all the play and good breaks by Trevor Jones, Josh Valentine and Josh Grundie took them deep into the visitors 22.
Biggar had a defensive scrum which was turned over by Moray and no 9 Matty Smith was unlucky not to open the scoring when he knocked on with the line in sight.
 The resulting scrum was won again by Moray and the ball moved along the back line before winger Spencer Barcis went over out wide to make it 5-0 after 5 minutes.
Kieran Rodgers kicked a difficult conversion to make it 7-0.
From the restart Moray continued to pile on the pressure and the pack drove the ball all the way to the 5m line.
The ball was moved wide from the ruck and hooker Lewis Scott was able to drive over to make it 12-0.
Biggar managed to get themselves into the Moray half on a couple of occasions but good kicks from Smith relieved the pressure.
The home team were playing with great tempo and a break by Duncan Steven at 10 opened up the Biggar defence before he was tackled on the 22.
 Moray turned over a lineout on halfway and no 9 Smith broke clear before moving the ball to Steven at 10 who threw a looping pass to Grundie at centre which he took at full pace above his head and sprinted clear before moving the ball wide to Alan Hunte on the wing who was tackled into touch just short of the line.
Moray won a penalty for an offence at the resulting lineout which was moved to hooker Scott who went over for his second try to make it 17-0.
Moray widened their lead when they moved the ball from a scrum on halfway to centre Grundie who sprinted through the Biggar defence and scored to give the home team a 22-0 lead after 25 minutes.
Biggar finally enjoyed some possession after the restart and took play into the Moray 22.
From a ruck they moved the ball down their backline and their centre powered through to score a try that was converted.
This got the visitors up and running and they added to their tally with a second converted try from a short forward drive to make it 22-14 at half time.
 Biggar began the 2nd half with self belief restored and had all the early pressure.
They stole the ball at a Moray lineout and again their strong centre piled through to add another converted try and make it 22-21 after 45 minutes.
Shortly after this they added another try when their no 6 chipped over the Moray defence and caught his own kick before sprinting clear and scoring under the posts to go into the lead by 6 points.
Moray could not regain the form they had shown in the first half and were unable to relieve the pressure that Biggar were applying.
The visitors added to their tally when their centre pounced on a dropped ball in the Moray midfield and hacked through before scoring under the posts making it 35-22 to the visitors with 15 minutes left.
To Moray’s credit they kept battling away and forced play into the Biggar 22 several times but were unable to break a resolute defence despite some valiant efforts by the whole team.
Moray’s captain Trevor Jones had to make the unenviable decision to concede the game when with less than 5 minutes to play, centre Valentine went down with a back injury after a tackle and needed lengthy attention before he was able to be moved.
 The Moray lads put in a valiant effort in what was a great game of rugby and they can hold their heads high after a superb season which has seen them play the game at a level they have never been involved in before, competing with the top teams from across Scotland.
This can only help in their development as players. The challenge next year is to take their game up a level and avoid the small mistakes that can be the difference between winning and losing when playing high quality teams.
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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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