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News Article |
| RAF LOSSIEMOUTH 10 MORAY 1ST XV 14 |
| Fri 29th Sep 2017 |
 Moray 1st XV won the first BT Caledonia League Division 2 North local derby of the season against RAF Lossiemouth last Saturday when they narrowly won by 14 points to 10 at the camp.
The Elgin side were handed the first opportunity of the afternoon when they were awarded a penalty for crossing. Wing Andrew McBean stepped up but dragged the ball wide of the uprights.
Five minutes later, however, the RAF side took the lead. A booming clearance by their stand-off was misjudged by wing Ben Roberts and when the ball hit the ground, the bounce took it into space. This gave the opportunity to allow the following up wing Adam Cliff to make it to the ball first, collect it and score under the posts. The Lossie full-back, Kieron Wood, added the conversion points for a 7-0 lead.
In the 15th minute, Moray replied. Phases of play from an attacking line-out took them to 5 metres from the line and to a scrum. The scrummage had been showing up well and this time, the ball was secured cleanly and a drive took them over the line with scrum-half Jonny Haslam dropping on the ball to score the try as it crossed the line. McBean calmly converted to level the scores at 7 points each.
The Lossie backs looked dangerous with ball in hand but Moray were playing a composed pressing game, cutting down any room and nullifying any opportunity.
 In the 25th minute, the Elgin side were reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes when Roberts was yellow carded for throwing the ball away. They weathered the ensuing storm, defended well, saw the bin period out and held on to a half-time score of RAF Lossiemouth 7 Moray 7.
Ten minutes into the second half, the home side regained the lead. A soft penalty was conceded when the ball was handled in a ruck allowing Wood to land the kick for 10-7
Almost immediately, the flyers were penalised for holding after a ruck was formed but McBean's attempt came back off the post and the ball was cleared.
The visitor's scrum was becoming more and more dominant and good ball was being produced to run with. In the 55th minute, clean ball was moved through hands firstly to the right and then back to the left to second-row John Stuart who crashed through the defence and as he was being stopped, he reached out to plant the ball on the line for the score. McBean stepped up and landed the conversion and Moray were now in the lead at 10-14.
Both teams had opportunities as the clock ran down but defence prevailed and no further points were added leaving Moray victors of a very tight and physical game.
It had been a typical nervy local derby but Moray had stifled the Lossie attack by being in their faces at every opportunity and putting in a good shift in defence. Once again the forwards put in a great shift in the scrum and got stronger as the game went on.
 Man of the Match was Andrew McBean for his work rate and endeavour but in essence it was a good all round team performance from the 22 players that produced the result.
This Saturday Moray are away on league business again, this time to Aberdeen University Medics.
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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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