Under 13
Matches
Sun 17 Apr 2022
Mackie
23
24
Aberdeen Wanderers RFC
Under 13
Wands v Mackie

Wands v Mackie

Mike Westwood18 Apr 2022 - 09:55
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https://www.aberdeenwanderers.

Game of 2 Halves!

Friendly match at Redcloaks Stonehaven.

2 x 22.5 Min Halves.

Mackie only had 12 x players so Wanderers with a squad of 15 on the day loaned a different player to Mackie for each half to allow a full 13-a-side game to go ahead.

Perhaps due to overconsumption of chocolate for breakfast on Easter Sunday, Wands started slowly and put in a very uncharacteristically disjointed first half performance.

A solo converted try from Campbell was the only score for Wands in the first half, whilst Mackie took advantage of some slack tackling and lack of rucking from Wanderers to score 5 x tries with relative ease, 2 x successful conversions.

Unfortunately Craig Reid had to retire towards the end of the first half through injury.

End of the first half Wanderers 4 : Mackie 17.

At Half Time the coaches attempted to inject more energy into the squad, emphasising that the match was not over yet, and after a disappointing first half performance Wands needed to come back strong, the match was now not about the score, but about the team performance.

At the restart it was immediately apparent that Wanderers where now "switched on" and all players were playing with renewed focus and intent allowing Fergus to run in for the second Wanderers try (conversion missed). Enjoying a positional switch into the centre, Sam Wallis took advantage of the extra space to then romp home for 2 x tries, 1 converted.

James then got another try for Wands, with Campbell knocking over the conversion to take the lead by 1 x point: Wands 18 : Mackie 17.

Mackie however where not too phased my Wanderers renewed intensity and continued to play some good attacking and flowing rugby seeing them score again to retake the lead, the lead changed hands again when Flynn scored for Wands, then back again as Mackie scored again.

With just a couple of minutes left on the clock and 2 points behind, Wanderers restarted and Campbell sent a kick spiralling down deep into the Mackie half, Fergus gave chase and put the Mackie defenders under pressure. Some confusion from the referee suggested it was the final play of the game saw Mackie then kick the ball into touch thinking they had secured the win. However the final whistle did not blow and there was one last line out for Wanderers, and after some excellent passing and ball retention saw Campbell run in on the opposite corner to score, the conversion was missed, but it didn't matter as Wands had sneaked the win by 1 x point as the final whistle did then blow.

Final score Wanderers 24 : Mackie 23.

A fantastic comeback from the Wanderers against a very tough opposition to make a very entertaining to watch match. Enjoyed by spectators on both sides, including a few of the Wanderers Senior team players who had made the effort to travel to Redcloaks to support the Youth.

A big thanks to Finley Nicolson and Aiden Jepp for taking turns playing for Mackie and both putting in great performances against their team mates to make it a well contested game. With 1 x Mackie try scored by a Wands player there can be no doubt to their effort despite wearing another shirt.

Hopefully first half performance was a blip and can be put down to a bit of rustiness at the end of the Easter Holidays!

Match details

Match date

Sun 17 Apr 2022

Kickoff

11:00

Meet time

10:00

Location

Instructions

Redcloak Rugby Pitches
Slug Road
Stonehaven
Aberdeenshire
AB39 3SS
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Granite City Team Sponsor - Cortez Subsea