First time this season that Wands could field a full 15 man team (no subs).
This meant that some players found themselves playing in new positions with Craig Reid taking up the unfamiliar position at the back of the scrum at No 8 and Sam & Noah Smith playing on the flanks, where they all adapted well and put in excellent performances.
Muntly are a combination team made up of Moray / Huntly / Banff & Fraserburgh.
They arrived with many large guys in their full squad (with subs), so pre match discussion was the need for good line speed in defence, to tackle low and try to attack the space.
Weather was kind with perfect sunny autumnal conditions, with only a tricky low sun to hamper those trying to catch a high ball.
After the kick off, it took a long time for the first score as both teams were feeling each other out, with some excellent running and tackling from both sides.
Wands however were first to score as Sam Smith finished off a barnstorming run to break over the try line, Campbell converting.
This however spurred Moray into action who managed to score 3 x well worked tries of their own to lead at half time by Wands 7 v Muntly 19.

Talk at half time was the need for greater speed at the breakdown, Muntly were winning the race at the ruck and too often promising breaks by Wands led to a turnover on the deck as support players were too slow to secure the ball.

Wands started well in the 2nd half with Fergus latching onto a cross field kick from Campbell to bundle his way over into the corner and touch down. Campbell slotting the conversion.
Following a good passage of play, Craig then made a strong run from the 22, fending off multiple tackles to touch down, unfortunately conversion was missed by Campbell, but the score was now tied at 19 v 19.
The match then flowed back and forth as Muntly regained the lead with a converted try, only for Sam Wallis to go on one of his stereotypical solo long distance runs from the restart to make it all the way to the try line and score, conversion from Campbell levelling the score again at 26 v 26.

Unfortunately that was the last points from Wands, and despite some great interlinking phase play, opportunities to score went begging as Muntly continued to defend strongly.

Muntly went onto score 2 x more tries (1 x converted), and with a lack of subs Wands were visibly tiring, however the lads all stuck in and continued to play some excellent rugby and were unlucky not to close the score.

The match was finished prematurely after an injury to one of the Muntly players.

Final Score Wands 26 : Muntly 38

Despite a loss, this was by far the best team performance of the season from Wanderers so far. Was encouraging to see the work that had been put in at training on a structured defence being put into practice during the match. Notably strong individual performances across the whole squad with Jack Wood putting in an excellent performance on his Wanderers debut, with some strong running and solid defence.

On another day with a few decisions going their way this could have been a different result, however players should all be proud of a strong performance against a tough opposition.