Wands v Deeside

Kier Kidd and Finley Nicolson started as subs as coach Austin had forgot to pick up Finley Nicolson on route to Groats thus was running late!
First match of the season v "Deeside" proper who have split from Garioch due to the combined 2 x squads having too many players.
Wand had 16 players on the day, Deeside had 14 so match was 13-a-side
45 Minute match of 2 x halves, first half a bit longer than the second.
Talked about keeping depth in attack before the match and using the space on the larger Saltire pitch.
Wands scored first through Joshua Walden (1), with further tries from Euan Smith (1), Campbell Westwood (3), Sam Wallis (2), Samuel Smtih (1), Craig Reid (2).
Wands successfully converting 6 out of 10 attempts at the posts (Cam 5 / Fin Mcintrye 1)

Wands were dominant in the first half, scoring the majority of their points in this half through some strong running and excellent passing and tactical kicking into space. Good kick chase, defensive line speed and tackling technique saw Wands win a few turnovers to regain possession.
The bigger pitch seemed to suit Wanderers best who managed to put runners into space with all members of the back line making good breaks and keeping the ball alive.

Second half saw a change in momentum as Deeside came back stronger and started to pass the ball a lot more, thus putting pressure on our defence. However Wands mostly held strong, only allowing Deeside to score twice, despite appearing to have the majority of the possession in the second half. Deeside holding onto the ball perhaps led to frustration amongst Wands who repeatedly gave away penalties whilst trying too hard to win the ball back; coming in at the side in rucks, hands in rucks, and being offside in defence etc.

Wands players who started on the bench for the first half, all got on for the second half, and there were a few further substitutions as players were rested as some picked up bumps during a very competitive match, hopefully nothing too serious and they will be back at training on Thursday.

Overall a great performance from Wands, much better line speed in defence putting the opposition under pressure, and keeping depth in attack allowed them to take the ball at pace and make yards in every attack. Wands scoring 10 tries and 6 conversions versus Deeside's 2 x tries and 1 x conversion.
MOTM awarded to Euan Smith for taking his try well after safely catching a bouncing ball from a cross field kick and using some neat footwork to evade the tackler and touchdown in the corner, plus some textbook low body positioning tackling.

Thanks to Cathy & Iona for preparing and serving food to the players after the match, and apologies to Renée McIntyre who volunteered to take the strips to wash, not knowing just quite how wet and muddy they would be after 45 minutes on a very soft pitch!