After their recent promotion to Caledonia Division One North, Aberdeen Wanderers RFC had their first league game of the season on Saturday. The team had an away game against Mackie RFC, and they knew that this was a tough game to start their new position in the league.

The excitement began right from the first whistle, and both teams showed off their skills in attack and defence throughout the whole match. Wanderers were the first to put numbers on the board, with a penalty bringing them up to 0-3. Although they had a head start, the Wands knew that in order to do well in the new league they would have to put in 100% for the full 80 minutes. After two minutes of play, Scott Rowell scored the first try of the day, and a conversion from Peter McDougall allowed Wanderers to take the lead by 10 points to 0.

Twenty minutes into the first half, another try, this time by Marc Muir (sponsored by Alex Ferguson Building Ltd) brought the score up to 0-15, and it looked like Wanderers would leave with a victory. But with an hour of game time left, they had to keep the work rate up to hold onto their lead. Just five minutes after this try, another was scored by Elliot Chadwick. Peter McDougall picks up the extra points and bring the overall score up to 0-22. However, this was shortly followed by a try from the opposition, making it seem like the total score at half time would be 5-22, when all of a sudden another Mackie try in the final phase of this half made the Wands have their break with only a ten-point lead, and a score of 12-22.

The Wanderers boys headed back out onto the pitch for the second half with their eyes on the prize. They had done so well in the first half, and were not going to let Mackie take away this victory when they were so close…

However, two minutes into this half saw another try for Mackie. Two minutes after that, they scored yet again. This meant that the total score was 26 points to 22, and Wanderers had let slip of that winning position that they had worked so hard for. Wanderers took this opportunity to demonstrate their strong skills in attack. Ruck after ruck, they continued to get closer and closer to that try line. Soon enough, a try from Peter McDougall allowed the Wands to regain their winning position, and through converting his own try, McDougall brought the score up to 26-29. Although, it still looked like anyone’s game. Unfortunately, this was shortly followed by a penalty from Mackie, making the score 29 points apiece. Could such an exciting match end up as a draw?

It looked like the game was to end with both teams holding 29 points, when all of a sudden Peter McDougall intercepted Mackie’s ball in the final minute, and he made it all the way to their try line. He brought the score up to 29-34 as the final whistle blew, and Wanderers headed home with the win that they deserved.

Wanderers’ man of the match was awarded to Hugh Conlon for his impressive work rate during the game.

“It was a tough and challenging first game in the league and we knew it was going too be hard,” said Aberdeen Wanderers captain Jake Watt (sponsored by Martyn Paul Gym), after the game, “but the attitude and determination of the boys really showed and we got the win we were after”