Match day loomed with an air of uncertainty as to whether any rugby was going to be played due to wintery conditions the night before. Thanks to some rainfall the worst of the snow had cleared at Woodside, leaving behind a very boggy pitch that required some TLC before any rugby could be played. Feeling right at home in the mud, Ronan ‘Piggy’ McLachlan and his shovel wielding recruits got stuck in and were able to rid the pitches of the sludge and water.

As three home games for each of the Shire teams were scheduled to take place all at once, the problem of not having enough changing rooms arose and, with Deeside RFC unwilling to change the kick-off time, Shire 3rd XV’s first home game was forced to become another away game. As the Woodside cleanup operation was finishing up the 22 man squad gathered in the car park and set off for Banchory.

As Shire arrived at the Deeside pitches it seemed that time had ran away with us as only 40 minutes remained till kick-off and Deeside were already outside warming up. After a speedy change Shire braved the elements and joined them outside in the snow for a warm up game of touch and some skill work. Despite the rushed warm up Paul ‘The Garden of’ Eden still managed to find the time to break his nose (injury number one) and so after a quick reshuffle the game kicked off. Immediately Shire’s sloppy play conceded a try to a Deeside team that seemed eager to rack up the points and exploit our disjointed play. As the game continued we were dealt another blow as Ryan Strachan dislocated his shoulder during a thumping tackle and was soon driven back to Aberdeen’s A&E (injury number two). The following twenty minutes saw Shire gradually wake up but it was too little too late as Deeside continued to run in three more well worked trys. Towards the end of the first half Shire started to play some good rugby in both attack and defence although an injury to McLachlan (injury number three) in the front row meant that the scrums became uncontested.

Half time score: Deeside 20 – 0 Aberdeenshire 3rd XV

Determined to build on the better performance towards the end of the first half, Shire kicked off and chased down the ball. Deeside did not seem to be expecting such intensity from us as the forwards did multiple pick-and-drives and recycled the ball efficiently. Shire were now building on the good performance produced against Huntly the week before as the sloppy first half was all but forgotten about. Deeside’s discipline began to falter, allowing Shire to camp in their half and dominate possession. Great forward work ensured that Shire were gaining on the Deeside try line but their defence remained strong and so the ball was shipped out for the backs to have a go. Deeside kept gifting penalties for being offside and again Shire challenged all the way up to the line without crossing over for the deserved try. Eventually Deeside rediscovered the attacking ability that they possessed in the first half and scored their final try. Shire continued to produce great phases of rugby however and after hitting a particularly solid ruck, Dave McDonald emerged slightly dazed and was subbed off (injury number four) and Grant Findlay also had to retire (injury number five). This inspired another reshuffle in the forwards and with Eden still nursing his nose, winger Mark Clayton followed in his Dad’s footsteps and joined the front row at hooker. During the final quarter the Shire defence remained composed although the previous attacking instinct seemed to fizzle out. Again, the physical Deeside inflicted another injury, forcing Martin Roberts to the side lines (injury number six) and Eden replaced him to see out the end of the game.

Although the score line may look unflattering, we came up against a hard drilled team were the main difference was they were awake from the onslaught. The additions of Foggy and Charlie were influential for the team as there bank of experience added some leadership to our game. Also great play from new player Oscar Sherlock, who had bad ball all day but yet always seemed to break the game line. The “loons” can keep their head up as they travel to Stonehaven to play Mackie 2’s next week which is sure to be a hard game

Full time score: Deeside – 25 0 – Aberdeenshire 3rd XV

Man of the Match: Mark Clayton
Dick of the Day: Paul Eden

1. Ronan McLaughlan
2. Thomas Dugdale
3. Charlie Catto
4. Ryan Strachan
5. Paul Watson
6. David Mcdonald
7. Grant Findlay
8. Mike Fotheringham
9. Matthew Benbow
10. Ashley Wiles
11. Mark Clayton
12. Chad Frenchman
13. Oscar Sherlock
14. Nick Hearn
15. Duncan Angus
16. Paul Eden
17. Martin Roberts
18. Toby Miller
19. Andy Falconer
20. George Tweedie