As every game continues Ellon Rugby First XV continue to improve. Playing across against league leaders Banff, Ellon should feel buoyant that they are improving, but could easily have won the game.
Starting as little chilly in the breeze, the game kicked off with Ellon receiving and playing up hill. Banff started the strongest with 12 minutes of pressure that Ellon coped with well. However Banff scored two quick tries with both converted. Ellon pressurised the Banff line for an extended period, but repeated offences by Banff on the line should have led to a yellow, but only penalties given. Ellon decided to kick and Stewart Cruickshank kicked three points. 14 – 3. Ellon maintained the pressure and from a Banff lineout that was over thrown, Doug Sharp collect the ball at the back and powered over to score near the posts. Stewart Cruickshank then slotted the conversion. 14 – 10. Ellon defence then went into over drive to hold Banff back for 15 minutes. Ellon got a yellow card for a player offside, very harsh for a first offence, but the team continued to battle to half time. 10 minutes of loss of concentration led to two tries to Banff. One came from a loose kick, received and counter attacked well. Ellon then again pressured the Banff line and despite repeated offences, no card issued which only frustrated Ellon more. There was a little niggle in the game now and both sets of players got frustrated and there was no ball past third phase. Callum Addy kicked over the top and was taken out by two Banff players, causing another scuffle to break out. No penalty given the game restarted on a scrum to Banff. Eventually a card came for Banff in the last three minutes for repeated offences. Ellon then used some phase play to put Doug Sharp over again for a brace of tries. Final Score was Banff 33 15 Ellon, but the game was much closer than the score shows. The top 4 teams in the league are all very similar on the day and it often comes down to player availability. Ellon were short of backs this weekend with a flanker on one wing and no backs on the bench. If Ellon had two more backs, it could easily have been a different outcome.
With Grammar only just beating Deeside and Garioch just beating Shetland, Ellon sit 4th in Caledonia 2 NE behind Banff, Garioch and Grammar. Needing to finish in the top three to progress in the upper tier of Caledonia 2, the next three games are vital. Garioch, then Grammar at home, followed by Deeside away. This Saturday is a 15:00 KO against Garioch at the Meadows, in the first home game in 5 weeks!
This Saturday is also Ladies Day and the Halloween party so expect a big crowd. Ellon Rugby welcome all down to watch the game for free, with a BBQ and bar on.

Also on Saturday the P7 squad went to the Edinburgh Rugby Tournament
The team made the journey to BT Murrayfield to take part in a tournament involving 10 other teams from around Scotland. Played on the back pitches at BT Murrayfield with the national stadium as the backdrop definitely inspired the team. The 10 teams were split into two groups and Ellon found themselves in group 1 along with Kinross, Kelso, Dundee Wasps and Deeside. Game one against Kinross was a very physical encounter with both teams giving one hundred percent and not giving each other the space to build up any decent attacking play. Kinross did eventually find a way past the Ellon defence and scored the only try of the game, Ellon to their credit pilled the pressure on Kinross but just couldn't find the try to draw level full time Kinross 1: Ellon 0
Game two was against Kelso a team we have never played before and were not sure what to expect. But like our first game it was a very close physical game. Ellon’s defence was proving hard to breakdown and with some great attacking rugby Ellon were the first team to score. At the restart after Ellons try Kelso used their "bigger unit" to break through some weak tackling from Ellon’s defence to level the scoring. Kelso then found a bit more confidence from the try and pilled the pressure on Ellon and looked the more likely team to score again and with the game coming to an end Kelso found gaps in the Ellon defence to score the winning try Final Score 2:1 Kelso
Game 3 was a well-deserved 2:0 win to Ellon against Dundee Wasps. Ellon were definitely the more dominant team in this game and it wasn`t for some last gasp tackling from Dundee the score would have been more convincing and a lot less stressful for coaches and the parents who travelled down!
Ellon’s last game was against Deeside and as in the previous game they were the more dominant team. The pressure Ellon were putting Deeside under finally paid off with the first try of the game. The game was very evenly fought but Ellon were playing better rugby but with a couple of missed tackles and some poor decisions they started to give Deeside more opportunities to score which they took full advantage of and managed to level the scoring and the game Finished 1:1.
Afterwards the players parents and coaches went into BT Murrayfield and were treated to a fantastic game of Rugby by watching Edinburgh play Harlequins in the European Cup, which Edinburgh edged by one point in the end!

Ellon Girls U15 played a training game in Inverurie with Huntly, Deeside and Wanderers girls all coming together to play some games. 7 girls made up a team for Ellon and played a mixed team from the other clubs. Girls training continues every Monday 18:30 and Saturday 10:00. Over 20 girls trained Monday night as the section continues to grow.

This weekend sees a very busy one for Ellon Rugby!
Saturday:
12:30 Ladies Day
13:00 U18 V Perthshire
15:00 First XV v Garioch
17:00 Club Adult Halloween Party
Sunday:
11:00 U13 and U14 both KO v Perthshire
13:00 U15 and U16 both KO v Perthshire