Ellon were beaten by Strathmore 13 – 15 on Saturday in a game they really should have won. With tries for Ali Edwards and Liam Slaven and a Penelty for Ovenstone, it wasn’t enough to beat a streetwise Strathmore. Ellon captain Nikki Fraser was absent with work so in stepped the experienced Mike Cox to help out. Ellon pack really should have dominated the scrum, but the referees interpretation prevented Ewan McIntyre scrimmaging until a swap in position with Mike Cox, along with a lower scrum sorted the issue. The scrum was competitive then, but the Ellon forwards dominated Strathmore’s in open play and at line out, winning almost every line out for both teams! This led to good pressure for the tries, but Strathmore fought back with good pace in the back line and some good angles of running. 2 tries and a penalty, the same as Ellon, but they also converted one of the tries. That was the difference in a tight game. Ellon had the opportunity to kick two easy penalties, but kicked for touch trying to go for the 5 points. On both occasions they failed to score, which lost Ellon 6 points.
Ellon Winger Callum Townend did a fantastic try saving tackle, but in the process dislocated his knee and has torn his ACL, with a recovery time of over nine months he will be really missed at the start of next season. However his brave actions kept Ellon within the 7 point margin to give us a losing bonus point. All eyes went to twitter to see the Mackie score, who also lost and gained a losing bonus point! That leaves Mackie two points behind Ellon with Mackie playing their last game this Saturday away to Strathmore. If Mackie fail to win that game, Ellon should be safe in Division 1. If Mackie win they move above Ellon and we will enter the relegation/promotion play offs in a three way with second in both Caley 2 Midlands and Caley 2 North. Each play each other just once and each is guaranteed a home and an away game. 1 club goes/stays down and 2 go/stay up. St Andrews have already been relegated to Caley 2.

Sunday saw Ellon U18 play in the Caledonia Cup Final in Inverness against Highland, and the U16 play the Caledonia Shield Final also against Highland. With a very early start (07:00) and an 11:00 KO both Ellon teams felt the long trip over to Inverness, while Highland were lucky enough to be playing at their home ground. After a late drop out on Sunday morning the U18 travelled with 15 players and no subs. There were players injured and others away working which left the team bare. With four season of weather (snow, hail, sun and wind!) Ellon were slow to start, leaking 21 points in the first 15 minutes. Knowing they were up against it, but waiting until an Ellon player got yellow carded for team infringements, they stepped it up. Credit to every player that put on an Ellon shirt because they left everything on the pitch against a strong 23 man squad for Highland. The final score was 57 – 0.
Ellon U16 faired a little better, but struggling also with the travel and conditions they were beaten 39 – 3. In the reverse fixture in the league, Ellon beat Highland, but things just didn’t go Ellon’s way this weekend.

Meanwhile back in Ellon it was Junior Tournament day! With similar weather to Inverness, snow, hail sun and wind, it made for an interesting day! There were players from Ellon, Garioch, Deeside, Aberdeen Wanderers, Aberdeen Grammar and Mackie all playing on every inch of grass and astro-turf at the Meadows! At P3 there was 10 teams organised by Micro Head Coach Iain Price into a tag festival on the astro-turf. P4-P7 there was 8 teams at each age band and two leagues in each age band, organised by Junior Head Coach Gareth Kemp. After the league games came semi-finals and finals, with first, second and third receiving a medal. Ellon P5 were the best placed Ellon team coming third, closely followed by Ellon P6 who came 4th, but only on first try scored in a draw.
Winners are:
P4 Deeside
P5 Mackie
P6 Mackie
P7 Mackie
Fair play team: Aberdeen Wanderers.
Ellon Best Placed: P5
Player of the tournament: Ben Dickie – Ellon P6!
Over all the winner was the NE Rugby! It was fantastic rugby played in some mixed conditions by over 500 children.
Head Coach and Vice President Gareth Kemp said: “So good to see the youngsters playing their hearts out and to such a high standard”. “Thanks as always must go to all the coaches, referees, runners and helpers on the day”. “The committee led by Emma Kemp ran a smooth day!” “Also a big thanks to TESCO ELLON for the donation of rolls and apples for all the players and coaches”.