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News Article |
| MUNTLY U13/14 LOSE OUT IN TIGHT GARIOCH ENCOUNTER |
| Wed 22nd Feb 2017 |
Moray and Huntly U13/14s suffered only their second defeat of the season in a very tight and physical encounter with Garioch last Sunday.
Playing into a stiff breeze for the first period, Muntly caught Garioch cold in the very first minute to take an early lead. Directly from the kick-off, Muntly Captain Dylan Price secured safe ball at the ruck and quick service from scrum-half Ross Arnott set full back Tom Letch away; bursting through a couple of tackles he was soon clear of the defence to run in from fully 60 metres.
Stung into action, Garioch started to show their true colours and contest the forward battle with gaining confidence. This caused Muntly to lose some of their discipline and persistently infringe at the breakdown, leading to a series of Garioch penalties.
With Muntly on the back foot the last of these penalties saw Garioch kick for touch and, from the resulting lineout, unleash their prop at pace to break through several poor Muntly tackles and level the scores. The Muntly reply was immediate; with Muntly infringing at the breakdown once more, a quick Garioch penalty saw them move the ball wide.
Muntly defensive pressure forced a knock-on and the spilled ball was hoovered up by Letch who ran clear to score under the posts. The period ended with Garioch building pressure deep in Muntly territory, but with the Muntly defence holding firm, particularly through great work from flanker John Rodwell and Number 8 Gregor Clark.
The second period proved to be just as tight with both sides working hard to penetrate, but with both defences playing well.
Whilst Garioch looked the greater threat with ball in hand, Muntly counter-rucking secured several turnovers to even out the possession.
It was well into the period before the deadlock was broken with Muntly going over once more; Price, running on a great angle, took a short ball in the back line and with a combination of strength and speed, he bullocked his way through several Garioch tackles to sprint clear and go over under the posts.
Clearly thinking the job was done, Muntly fell asleep at the restart and allowed Garioch back into contention. Several missed Muntly tackles allowed a Garioch strike runner to make the line almost unmolested, for the softest of tries.
The close of the second period saw Muntly hold the slightest of score line advantages.
The third period was very much where the game turned, with the Garioch pack targeting the ball in the tackle and nullifying the Muntly advantage at the breakdown.
With fatigue also becoming a factor, further Muntly indiscipline meant they often found themselves on the wrong side of the referee’s whistle and Garioch made good use of consistent possession and territorial advantage.
A quick penalty tap from 10 meters out resulted in the first of 3 quick-fire scores from the Aberdeenshire outfit.
Their second came after they secured a scrum against the head and neatly worked the ball on the blind side to a ruck position just short of the Muntly line; with a numerical advantage it was simple case of a quick pick up and dive over.
The third try came after Garioch once more secured turnover ball and moved the ball well through the back-line to allow their centre to go over.
Not to be outdone, Muntly turned the tide and finished the period in the ascendency; after causing Garioch to become the villains at the breakdown, a series of quick penalties and good handling, especially by fly-half Innes Parkin, saw them all but score.
The fourth and final period continued in the same vein. Garioch dominance from the start saw them stretch their lead.
Gaining possession in their own 22, good movement through the backs saw them breakout and run into the right hand corner from distance.
This was quickly followed by a further Garioch try after yet another Muntly penalty. To Muntly’s great credit, they did not let their heads drop and finished the match off showing what might have been.
Euan Willets, now playing at fly-half, consistently made good ground through a series of fine line-breaks, and with Muntly on the front foot possession was proving easier to maintain.
Eventually Muntly pressure told and after a series of quick tap penalties Josh Andrew supplied a short pass for Willetts to go over from close range.
Directly from the re-start Garioch infringed once more. A quick penalty saw winger Connor Falcus make good ground before off-loading to Arnott; with a sea of Garioch defence in front of him, Arnott proceeded, through a combination of pace and great body position, to outflank the initial tackle attempts and then charge over the line with 3 defenders in close attention for the individual try of the day.
A combination of Parkin and Andrew added 3 conversions to give a final score of Muntly U13/14 – 18, Garioch U13/14 – 25 at the end of what was an extremely physical, tough and close match, between two sides capable of producing excellent flowing rugby.
Muntly will reflect on what might have been in this “to-and-fro” match and they will view this as a game that they certainly had the ability to win.
Whilst at times they played exceptionally well and looked the better side against a physically imposing opposition, lapses in concentration and discipline cost them dear throughout.
Many lessons will have been learned and they look to take these forward to their next fixture V Highland; 1100KO at Morriston playing fields, Sunday 26th February.
Muntly U14s/13s: Charlie Anderson, Josh Andrew, Callum Hall, Tom Letch, Josh Austin, George Lunn, Innes Parkin, Fraser Whitecross, Scott Riach, Gregor Clark, John Rodwell, Euan May, Ross Arnott, Connor Falcus, Jai O’Brien, Dylan Price, Craig Young, Corey Rizza, Scott Cousar, Roddy Manson, Lewis Hay, Euan Willetts, Mylo McBain.
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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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