Wands U13 v Moray / Huntly

Match was played over 3 x 15 Minute periods.
Wands travelled with a strong squad of 17 players.
This was Wanderers first competitive match in 4 weeks after 2 x matches were postponed due to poor weather, which also limited opportunities for training.

Captain for the day was Flynn Rasmussen.

1st 15 Minute period:
Wands kicked off, Muntly collected and through their strong runners gained territory deep into Wands half. Wands soaked up the pressure and defended strongly eventually winning possession and releasing Samuel Wallis to score in the corner. Difficult conversion was missed.
Muntly restarted and immediately put Wands under pressure again, but again the defence was strong and after regaining possession, slick handling released Ruben on the wing who sprinted for the line, despite some excellent evasive footwork, Ruben was tackled short of the line, but he managed to pop up the ball from the ground, straight into Campbells arms for him to go over for the try. Again the conversion was missed.
This period ended Wands 6 : Muntly 0.

2nd 15 Minute Period:
Moray continued to push Wanderers hard during this period with their big physical runners trying to punch holes through the Wanderers defence, however excellent low tackling and quick work at the breakdown prevented Muntly from scoring. Wanderers managed to score twice through Fergus and Samuel Wallis touching down for his second try of the day. Both conversions were successful.
This period ended Wands 14 : Muntly 0.

3rd 15 Minute Period:
During the break the coaches challenged the Wands players to keep Muntly off the scoreboard. However after 30 minutes the players had started to understandably tire with all the defensive work they were having to put in, and eventually Muntly started to break through as the tackles started to drop off and Wands gave away repeated penalties for offside. Muntly scored 4 x tries this period through straight aggressive running, plus made 2 successful conversions. This allowed them right back into the match and at one point where within a score of drawing even.
Wands however added to the scoresheet through excellent worked tries by Finlay Mcintyre and Finley Nicolson plus one successful conversion.
Final Score: Wands 21 : Muntly 14.

Overall a well deserved win on the road against very tough competition.
Was great to see some excellent teams tries as a result of some very good handling and offloading, plus some very spirited defence (for 30 minutes) against a barrage of physical runners.
Sam Smith awarded Man of the Match for outstanding effort in defence with high quality, low body position tackling as well as some excellent attacking play, was unfortunate not to score a try himself, with only some last minute tackling to force him into touch preventing a score in the corner.

With the likelihood that postponed matches v Gordonstoun, Deeside / Garioch and Ellon wont be rescheduled, this was a strong finish to Wanderers U13 Caledonia Club Conference Campaign, and the boys should all be suitably proud of their achievements, having only lost 1 x league match through the season.

Photos courtesy of David Wallis.