Colts vs. Moray 30/03/08
Holidays, studying for exams & other commitments left over fifteen players unavailable, so a squad of just 11 players travelled to Elgin to play the last match in the league stages of the U-18 Caledonia Cup.
With most of the players having played a tough 1st XV match the previous afternoon, then enduring a two & a half hour drive (after an hour’s less sleep due to the clocks going forward) & arriving just 15 minutes before kick off, the team were understandably slow to get into the match.
With Moray allowed to field one extra player Atholl had a difficult undertaking right from the kick off. Moray took the ball forward & kept Atholl back with deep kicks into the corners. From a lineout the ball was passed wide for a Moray try in the corner, which was well converted. Soon after Moray converted a penalty to take a 10-0 lead.
This sparked the Atholl lads into action with aggressive tackling & good support at the breakdown. Whenever in possession, Atholl were always creative & looked to pass & run out wide in order to stretch the Moray defence. Good communication allowed the ball to be spread wide, where debutant Keir had enough pace & strength to beat the defence for a try. Without his kicking “tee” & no offer of one from the home sideline, Matt Burrows had to adopt the old school place-kicking technique with a team-mate holding the ball in place.
Moray came back with another penalty before Atholl took the game deep into the opposition half through great open running rugby. Matt made a break from fly-half and then unceremoniously smashed his opposite number out of the way before using an immense handoff to flatten the next would-be tackler & go over for a try. His drop-kick conversion was successful, which left Atholl trailing 13-12.
Moray once again responded with another penalty before more quick recycled ball saw speedster Fraser Potter squeeze in at the corner to leave the half time score 16-17 to Atholl !!
The first ten minutes of the second half were even with neither side gaining any dominance of the other. However, the fresh legs of Moray’s eight subs & the Atholl lads tiredness saw the Elgin team run in a further five tries with a faultless kicking performance by their fly-half who netted 21 points with his boot.
The team spirit was absolutely awesome - before, during & after the match with every player putting 100% for the whole 70 minutes – with fresh legs & a full squad Atholl would have undoubtedly triumphed.
A squad “Men-Of-The-Match” award is a reflection of how much effort these young Highlanders put in throughout the whole game.
