Deeside closed out the first phase of the National 2 league campaign with what turned out to be a comfortable win against a dogged Biggar team who worked hard to the last. It will be a two week wait for the final league placings as the other fixtures were rescheduled to 24th October. However, the win guarantees a top 2 finish with only Falkirk able to dislodge Deeside at the top of the standings.

Deeside finish phase 1 having won 4 and drawn 1 match scoring a total of 239 points along the way. On 4 of the 5 occasions they scored 9 tries in the match with a total try count of 39. Kicking accuracy was 56% with 22 of 39 conversions being made. 89 points were conceded with 4 of the teams scoring 3 tries and 1 team two. Overall points difference was +150.

Falkirk to date have 3 wins and 1 draw scoring a total of 156 points whilst conceding 81 points. They currently have a positive points difference of 75. Their final game is at home against Dundee on 24th October.

Phase 2 will see the top 3 in the league play off against each other. Likely to be a home game v Falkirk and an away game v Biggar. But that is for another day.

As expected Biggar did not travel north to lie down and make it easy for the home team. The first 35 minutes was a dogged affair with Biggar providing tough competition. However, following a half time pep talk the home team came out of the traps firing and dominated the first 20 minutes of the second half to put the game beyond Biggar. Credit to Biggar who were rewarded for their efforts with two well deserved tries in the last 15 minutes of the game. But the damage was done and Deeside take the points.

Into the match report. A cold but dry greeted the players with a slight breeze coming from the Church end. Unfortunately Lennon dropped out of the 22 due to illness. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Kick off. Biggar playing from the Church end and kicking to Deeside.

9'. Deeside line out 15m from the Biggar try line on the right hand side. Good take by Fergus and the ball is quickly through the hands of James to Archie S. The ball goes loose but tidied up by Rory. 3 solid carries by the forwards met with tough resistance from the Biggar defence. Ball loose again, Archie S recovers and a quick pass to Finn who takes the ball to the edge of the 22 and then a quick pop to Archie M who moves it quickly to Rory coming down the left. A 2 on 1 with plenty space to attack, Rory attracts the defending full back before popping to Jack Mackenzie who runs in to score. Conversion goes left. A good all round team try. 5-0

12'. Good Deeside defence making things tough for Biggar who take to the boot to try and gain some territory. Ball kicked to the far left and Deeside line out 15m from their own try line.

13'. The Deeside line out doesn't quite go to plan with the ball going over the back, caught and taken in by Biggar to within 10m of the try line, being stopped by Archie S. Deeside concede a penalty an the ruck. A quick tap by Biggar to the big men and a couple of quick pick and goes and they smuggle the ball over the try line. Conversion is good. 5-7

A bit of back and forth. If anything Biggar had slightly better of the possession and field placement but good defence by Deeside kept the Biggar attack at bay.

20'. Biggar scrum 5m inside their own half on their right hand side. Ball played to the 10 who clears downfield over the head of Jack. Good cover play by Jack though and he makes up the ground to recover the ball in the 22 and then makes his way into the middle of the pitch where he offloads to Rory. Rory takes it forward a few steps before offloading to Callum Gray who carries well from the Deeside 22 right into the Biggar half before offloading to Alfie. Great tackle by the Biggar 15 to bring Alfie down 15m into their half. The forwards get their hands dirty with some carries but largely isolated and unable to make too much progress. The ball goes loose so Finn decides to show the forwards how to do it dancing his way through the Biggar defence until they pull him to the ground 5m from the line. A quick carry from Callum Gray drawing the penalty advantage for a high tackle before the ball is recycled at the ruck with James popping it to Josh who finishes from 5m out. Conversion good. 12-7

Neither team was really able to dominate and the game largely moved into a midfield affair.

Around the 24th minute there was a good run by Alfie Wade on the back of a good Deeside move.

In the 26th minute a good catch and run by Archie S. Taking the ball on the Deeside 10m he then danced his way through the Biggar defence all the way up to just 10m short of the try line where the impressive Biggar 15 made the covering tackle. Archie M and Rory made good yards to secure the ball before Nathan took it close. However, in the next phase the ball was lost forward and chance missed.

39'. Winning the penalty in front of the posts and with the clock ticking towards half time, the call is made to take the penalty tap 20m from the try line. Nathan Tawse to the fore with James and Callum as reinforcements. 10m out and quick ball to the second pod of Josh Miller, Josh M and Roan vdS. Back to Jamie who takes it to the 5m. James W in for the quick recycle of the ball. Right to Archie Saunders who spots the gap between the two centres. Attacking the space he draws both defendes before nonchalantly passing the ball out the back of his hand to Archie MacLeod who crosses the whitewash for the T. Con missed left. 17-7

Half time: 17-7. A mixed first half with a lack of cohesion at times across the back line and forwards being isolated when carrying the ball in to contact. Deeside certainly made things difficult for themselves up against a team quick of the defensive line and good in the tackle.

Into the second half and Deeside kicking to Biggar from the Church end.

37'. Deeside scrum 10m from the Biggar try line on the right hand side. Big push from Biggar but Deeside manage to get the ball out to Archie S who quickly moves the ball to Finn and then on to Archie MacLeod who almost makes it through but knocked off balance. Finn secures the ruck quickly and Mikey takes advantage to slow defensive play by Biggar to pick and get through to score under the posts. He then picks himself up and knocks over the extra 2. 24-7

39'. From the restart Biggar knock on with the ball bouncing nicely into the hands of Jamie who storms 15m into the Biggar half. A nice short pass to the onrushing Callum Gray who is up in support takes the ball deeper into away team territory. Great tackle by the Biggar 13 but Callum has presence of mind to pop the ball to Archie M who is up in support, 15m out now. Biggar get their hands on Archie so he pops to Josh Miller who is up in the attack and he takes the ball across the whitewash for his second try of the day. Conversion from wide right stays that way. 29-7

42'. Biggar with the line out 5m inside their half on the right hand side. The throw doesn't go to hand and Roan vdS reacts quickest to recover the ball for Deeside. Deeside go through two phases through the forwards before getting the ball into the hands of Archie Saunders. Finn takes the ball in and stopped 15m in the away teams half, ruck secured by Archie M, Mikey is quick to the ball and passes to Archie Saunders who has made good ground to come round the corner. Alfie on the right hand side gives a 2 on 1 opportunity with the Biggar winger undecided on who best to cover. Archie uses that to his advantage and drops the dummy then drops the power to get through the smallest of gaps and motor over the line from 25m out. Mikey knocks over the 2. Great play by the backs after solid set up by the forwards. 36-7

44'. Good take by Callum Gray off the restart. A couple of phases before the ball moves to Nathan who powers the team 5m up the pitch to give the team a platform to strike from. 10m inside their own half and with the Biggar defence sucked in to the ruck Deeside come forward down the left hand side with a 6 on 4. Archie Saunders releases Finn who teases the Biggar defence with a couple of dummies whilst taking the ball to the Biggar 10m, sucking in the Biggar defence before passing left to Rory who makes it past a despairing Biggar tackle to dive over the line just to the left of the posts. Deadly. Mikey adding the 2. 7 minutes of champagne rugby from Deeside to take the game away from Biggar. Lovely to watch. 43-7

48'. Lovely double team tackle by the Archie's pushing Biggar back some 10m with a great combined effort.

52'. Multiple phases of play with the team coming from the left back across to the right hand side. Good advances by the forwards with a deliberate knock on drawing the penalty advantage. Deeside keep coming and the ball comes across to Archie Saunders who tries to wriggle through but gets swamped by a couple of Biggar defenders. However, he is able to offload to Finn who pushes over from a couple of metres out to add his name to the scoresheet. Conversion missed from out wide. 48-7

54'. A couple of quick phases off the restart sees the ball in the hands of Archie Saunders who passes to Finn 10m inside his own half. Spotting the tightest of gaps he puts down the power and makes it through two soft tackles before continuing to motor through the Biggar half and over the try line for his second score of the day and take him back to the top of the try charts. Mikey +2. 55-7

56:30'. Nice goosestep by Biggar taking Deeside Number 15 out the game :-) IYKYK

59'. Biggar come alive. Kicking to touch within 10m following Deeside conceding a penalty, they go for the cheeky move at the front of the line out. It doesn't quite come off but they force the clearance kick from Deeside. Gathering they come forward and are back in the 22 in quick time moving the ball to the right hand side and drawing penalty advantage. Within 10m of the Deeside line they play it back to the 10 who dabs the ball through, ball bounces off the post and the 9 gratefully collects and scores. Conversion missed. 55-12

65'. Deeside giving away penalties and compounding things by back chatting to the referee so getting marched back and getting dangerously close to the try line. Poor from the Deeside lads.

66'. Great defensive set by the forward pack. Biggar using the big men to try and get over the line but Deeside hold firm with Jamie eventually being the man underneath to hold Biggar up. Goal line drop out.

70'. Biggar almost through. 10 plays a nice kick through the Deeside defence but the Biggar player kicks the ball through the back. Warning signs for Deeside who have lost their shape. Back for a Biggar penalty on the far right hand side on the 22.

71'. Biggar works their way painstakingly forward from the penalty eventually finding themselves on the left hand side. Back into the big men and several pick and go's and they get over the try line. Conversion successful. 55-19

75'. Physical play from both teams with Biggar pushing to come forward and get another try on the board. Coming down the left hand side they enter the Deeside half where they meet Archie S who makes the initial tackle. The Archie's then combine to push them back into their own half with Rowan getting in amongst it. Biggar knock on and Archie M picks up just inside the Biggar half and pushes forward. Holding off the big number 6 he is free with just the grass to cross...alas the efforts of the day catch up with him and the Biggar 10 does a great job to chase back and chop him down 15m short of the posts. Deeside come forward smelling another try and just when Archie Saunders is about to strike he is downed by two Biggar men and penalty conceded.

76'. Biggar come again. Getting some help from Deeside penalties they make their way up to the half way line before playing the ball to the wide right. Great covering tackle by Rowan just outside the 22 stalls their progress but they recycle the ball quickly. Bryn prevents the next attack before Biggar run into Jamie who forces the knock on. In the kerfuffle a Biggar forward and Josh Miller have a cuddle with the Deeside man being penalised by the referee and getting the teams first yellow card of the season. Biggar get possession again via the resultant penalty and are 15m from the line...here comes the tap and go...

77'. Into the breach they go and 6 times Biggar come through the big men and 6 times they are repelled by fantastic defensive play. Getting no joy Biggar go to the backs and the ball comes left. Alfie makes the tackle and Rowan prevented from attacking the ball by a player from the side - although not given by the referee - Biggar then knock on in melee, although it looked like a Callum Gray turnover tbh, and the game is brought to an end.

Full time: 55-19. A very good first 20 minutes of the second half where everything Deeside touched seemed to work in stark comparison to the first half. A dogged Biggar kept plugging away and got some well deserved tries but also some good defensive sets by Deeside to prevent Biggar scoring more. Deeside need to work on reducing the penalty count and back chat to the referee as that cost them some metres on a couple of occasions. But overall another great day out for the Young Boars.

NB: all times per Veo less half kick off times.

MOTM: Josh MacDonald
DOTD: Josh Miller

Leading Try Assists:
8 - Owen Jones, Mikey Miller, Archie Saunders
5 - Archie MacLeod
3 - "No. 15" aka Roar-y M
2 - Jamie Adams, Finlay Rogerson
1 - Daniel Riach, Fergus Robb, Hamish Shelmerdine, Roan van der Starre, James Warrington

Leading Try Scorers:
8 - Finlay Rogerson
7- Alfie Wade
5 - "No. 15" aka Roar-y M
4 - Mikey Miller, Hamish Shelmerdine
3 - Owen Frost, Archie MacLeod, Josh Miller, Archie Saunders
2 - Jack Andrew, Max Davidson, Callum Gray, Jack Mackenzie, Roan van der Starre, Rowan Smith
1 - Jamie Adams, Bryn Alford, Owen Jones

Top Points Scorer:
56 - Mikey Miller
40 - Finlay Rogerson
35 - Alfie Wade
32 - Hamish Shelmerdine
25 - "No. 15" aka Roar-y M
21 - Archie Saunders
15 - Owen Frost, Archie MacLeod, Josh Miller
11 - Owen Jones
10 - Jack Andrew, Max Davidson, Callum Gray, Jack Mackenzie, Rowan Smith, Roan van der Starre
7 - Jamie Adams
5 - Bryn Alford
2 - Daniel Riach

Yellow Cards:
1 - Josh Miller (v Biggar)

Star Player:
2 - Owen Frost
1 - Josh MacDonald, Archie MacLeod, Daniel Riach, Fergus Robb, Nathan Tawse, Alfie Wade

And for those brave souls willing to kick for points, Kick Success:
78% - v Dunfermline
57% - v Grammar
56% - Team Average, v Dundee, v Biggar
50% - v Falkirk, v Huntly, v GHA
44% - v Cambuslang