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2nd XV - Report
Date: Saturday 20th October 2012 - Kick Off: 15:00
RBS Caledonia Regional Leagues - Caledonia League Division 2 North
| Aberdeen University | 31 | vs | 28 | Aberdeenshire 2nd XV |
Super Twas give Students a tough examination, but fall just short.
Aberdeenshire's 2nd XV put in one of the best performances of the season still to loose, although gaining two bomus points in the process.
The Supa Twas made the short journey down to Kings Playing Fields at the University to take on a student side enjoying a run of good form. From the outset this was going to be a tough game, with the plan of attack being to take the Uni backline out of the game, by keeping the ball and the Twas forwards dominating their opposite n umbers.
After a hairy opening few minutes with nerves getting the better of both sides handling of the crisp autumn afternoon, the Uni stamped their mark on the game with a 5m lineout drive to score, to the chorus of "Uni,Uni,Uni!. After having practised to defend such a move the previous week at training this was disheartening to the Twas pack but quickly swept aside any negative thoughts as they moved on to the "next job"! and a desire to silence the "Uni"!
The next job being, reclaiming the kick off and keeping the ball. This was done with the twin threats of Baz and Le Baz harrying and smashing Uni boys out of the resultant rucks and Gary Leith moving the ball quickly to the backline to make inroads and set up for another phalanx of willing runners. The ball was moved up and across the field through a series of quick rucks and swift hands where it ended up on the uni 5m line, after a series of solitary and paired runners failed to breach the uni defence, the Ball was held up resulting in a 5m scrum. From this resultant set piece, Flyhalf- Phil Parkin managed to ghost through the upcoming uni defence to score under the posts! The catcalls of "Uni,Uni,Uni" were heard from the Twas pack this time.
As the 1st half wore on, the balance of power began to swing in the Twas favour with rucking and defensive tackling all coming to the fore. The Twas also enjoying the upper hand at scrum time with Number 8- Duncan Coull able to pick the ball up cleanly and get on the outside of his opposing flanker to set up field position and quick front foot ball. This giving the twas considerably good field position up the pitch, and after some controlled phase play close to the line, it was Lewis "Coo" Emslie who managed to bundle his away over the line.
The Students were clearly rattled, and Shire were match their pace across the pitch at this, as well as the fast style of play. This continued with Phil ‘Rascal’ Parkin making his opponents dizzy for once, instead of himself. This was through some good runners up the blindside, opening up the Uni defence, with Rascal then chipping ahead, and being able to read the bounce, unlike the opposition full back, meaning he could glide in under the posts. William Parker duly converted as he had the last two, making it 7-21, with all the Uni being able to respond with was a penalty, 10-21.
Then just before halftime the turning point in the game, a promising lineout position was given up with Lewis "Coo" Emslie being given 10min in the bin for repeated infringements. This rocked the belief of the Twas enough to allow the Uni to gain a foothold back in the game and from a resultant scrum close to Shire’s line, their Hooker managed to power over the line. Upon the resumption of the 2nd half with Edgar replacing Coo in the scrum and Le baz making way due to the sin binning a period of panic set about the Twas. This was characterised by some of the tackles beginning to fall off as Uni runners began to bludgeon in the wider channels and in one instance a runner battering his way down the wing coupled with some simple hands to score in the corner.
At this point changes were rung in the Twas ranks with Iain "is he a 12 or is he a lock" Irvine making way for Fraser Forman and the Coo resuming his position in the front row.
The Uni, sensing an upset may be on the card on their own patch tried to raise the tempo and increase the width of the game in the final 20 and gained rewards through it, with the Twas cover defence becoming stretched. This was due to some tired legs, and some loose kicks from the away side, and unfortunately the Uni scored in the corner. Their kicker slotted another from the corner, rounding off an excellent kicking display from the tee for the young man. 31-21. The Twas to their credit though did not give up in the last 20 minutes, and more changes were made in this period, with Nick Hearn replacing Tom on the wing and Matt Lynch replacing Young Gav at full back.
With the forwards offering themselves as crash ball runners again, and the twas finding better field position. Players such as Duncan Coull were making good yards from the back of the scrum and the next score came from simlilar lead up play to "The Coo’s" try in the first half, with Le Baz twisting his way over through bodies to score.
Unfortunately this was close to the end of the match, and there was not enough time for Twas to get back in the students half, with the ref blowing the whistle on one of the best Supa Twas performances of the Season. Final Score 31-28. Heads can be held high though, scoring 4 tries and being within 3 of a team which was in the first XV league last year and has only lost once this season. A bit composure and concentration at times, and games such s these will go the way of the Twas.
After a hairy opening few minutes with nerves getting the better of both sides handling of the crisp autumn afternoon, the Uni stamped their mark on the game with a 5m lineout drive to score, to the chorus of "Uni,Uni,Uni!. After having practised to defend such a move the previous week at training this was disheartening to the Twas pack but quickly swept aside any negative thoughts as they moved on to the "next job"! and a desire to silence the "Uni"!
The next job being, reclaiming the kick off and keeping the ball. This was done with the twin threats of Baz and Le Baz harrying and smashing Uni boys out of the resultant rucks and Gary Leith moving the ball quickly to the backline to make inroads and set up for another phalanx of willing runners. The ball was moved up and across the field through a series of quick rucks and swift hands where it ended up on the uni 5m line, after a series of solitary and paired runners failed to breach the uni defence, the Ball was held up resulting in a 5m scrum. From this resultant set piece, Flyhalf- Phil Parkin managed to ghost through the upcoming uni defence to score under the posts! The catcalls of "Uni,Uni,Uni" were heard from the Twas pack this time.
As the 1st half wore on, the balance of power began to swing in the Twas favour with rucking and defensive tackling all coming to the fore. The Twas also enjoying the upper hand at scrum time with Number 8- Duncan Coull able to pick the ball up cleanly and get on the outside of his opposing flanker to set up field position and quick front foot ball. This giving the twas considerably good field position up the pitch, and after some controlled phase play close to the line, it was Lewis "Coo" Emslie who managed to bundle his away over the line.
The Students were clearly rattled, and Shire were match their pace across the pitch at this, as well as the fast style of play. This continued with Phil ‘Rascal’ Parkin making his opponents dizzy for once, instead of himself. This was through some good runners up the blindside, opening up the Uni defence, with Rascal then chipping ahead, and being able to read the bounce, unlike the opposition full back, meaning he could glide in under the posts. William Parker duly converted as he had the last two, making it 7-21, with all the Uni being able to respond with was a penalty, 10-21.
Then just before halftime the turning point in the game, a promising lineout position was given up with Lewis "Coo" Emslie being given 10min in the bin for repeated infringements. This rocked the belief of the Twas enough to allow the Uni to gain a foothold back in the game and from a resultant scrum close to Shire’s line, their Hooker managed to power over the line. Upon the resumption of the 2nd half with Edgar replacing Coo in the scrum and Le baz making way due to the sin binning a period of panic set about the Twas. This was characterised by some of the tackles beginning to fall off as Uni runners began to bludgeon in the wider channels and in one instance a runner battering his way down the wing coupled with some simple hands to score in the corner.
At this point changes were rung in the Twas ranks with Iain "is he a 12 or is he a lock" Irvine making way for Fraser Forman and the Coo resuming his position in the front row.
The Uni, sensing an upset may be on the card on their own patch tried to raise the tempo and increase the width of the game in the final 20 and gained rewards through it, with the Twas cover defence becoming stretched. This was due to some tired legs, and some loose kicks from the away side, and unfortunately the Uni scored in the corner. Their kicker slotted another from the corner, rounding off an excellent kicking display from the tee for the young man. 31-21. The Twas to their credit though did not give up in the last 20 minutes, and more changes were made in this period, with Nick Hearn replacing Tom on the wing and Matt Lynch replacing Young Gav at full back.
With the forwards offering themselves as crash ball runners again, and the twas finding better field position. Players such as Duncan Coull were making good yards from the back of the scrum and the next score came from simlilar lead up play to "The Coo’s" try in the first half, with Le Baz twisting his way over through bodies to score.
Unfortunately this was close to the end of the match, and there was not enough time for Twas to get back in the students half, with the ref blowing the whistle on one of the best Supa Twas performances of the Season. Final Score 31-28. Heads can be held high though, scoring 4 tries and being within 3 of a team which was in the first XV league last year and has only lost once this season. A bit composure and concentration at times, and games such s these will go the way of the Twas.
Player Of The Match
Comments (1)
Malcolm White - 7 months agoThanks to Coully for doing this.
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