U14 v Ellon 18.2.24 Cup Game

Wands U14s travelled to Ellon full of expectation. The last couple of games with Ellon have been close affairs and today was knockout rugby. Ellon dominated possession throughout the game, but the Wands backs made good use of any ball that came their way. Ellon scored first in the corner, but Wanderers quickly rallied and replied with two tries. First from Struan and then Noah. One of many lung busting runs today. Wands were looking good with both tries converted by Kier and Ryan respectively. As has been the case in recent matches, the lead was swapped repeatedly throughout the game. Ellon re-took the lead with another two tries and a conversion either side of the first third break. Wands large squad means that we were able to make 6 changes as the teams swapped ends. This is both a blessing and a curse as it did disrupt the flow of the game. We will remain committed to managing game time for all of the boys though and it's important that training and attendance are rewarded. Struan scored another two tries with a response from Ellon in between keeping the game tight. No conversions from either side. In the 50th minute of the game, Finn went went over to put Wands 29-22 up. With the conversion missed, that gave us a 7 point lead heading in to the closing stages. Wands kept pushing on the Ellon 5 metre line, and we were in a good position to see the game out. However, a turn over penalty and a monstrous kick from Ellon saw them return to the Wands half as the clock went over the 60 minutes. A try resulting from a penalty on the Wands 5 metre gave Ellon the opportunity to tie things up with the last kick of the game. The Ellon kicker held his nerve and put the conversion through the posts for a 29-29 draw. No extra time at U14s, and the game ended at 5 tries a piece. We will await confirmation from the administrators of the cup to confirm who will go through to face Deeside next week.

Some good performances and some lessons to be learned for the boys. The performances keep improving and we are building a strong squad as we look to close out this season and start thinking about 7s and U15s.