Weekend Review - 180908 Youth Section take maximum points in the Lancer Conference

Playing at the Meadows over Saturday and Sunday, Ellon managed to earn full points over the weekend. At U18 Muntly struggled to get numbers with injuries and a small squad they have agreed to merge with Orkney also, but couldn’t get the Orkney players down in time. The game however went ahead as a development game with Ellon providing 9 players to ensure it was 15 aside. 32 boys managed a game it what previously would have not been played. Sunday saw U13 play first in a game where the Ellon boys made it 3 from 3! Winning 33 – 3 and playing some great rugby. Certainly some exciting things to come from this squad. U14 game also had to be a development game as Muntly were short. Ellon leant 4 players to Muntly, again making it 15 aside. Ellon came out 24-15 winners. Muntly had half a team at both U15 and U16 so merged them to make an U16 team. U15 Ellon received the points but got no game. Ellon took a few U15 players up to give them some experience from the bench.
At U16 Ellon dominated from the start with the big second row Reese Melling going over after 5 minutes. This was followed by Jack Duncan scoring, playing his first game in a few months for Ellon. Jack is moving up to U18 next weekend for his own development as he continues playing for Caley U17. Fraser Chalk scored from full back after 19 minutes. Further tries in the first half to Adam Fowlie (2) and Archie Falconer, with Ben Dickie scoring 5/6 conversions, some from the side line. This was a 40 – 0 half time score. At half time, Head Coach Gareth Kemp swapped the team about, resting both Caledonia U16 forwards (Archie Falconer and Finlay Hagen), and the scrum half Ben Dickie. They also gave second row Reese Melling to Muntly to try and even things up a bit. This worked for about 10 minutes before captain Stevie Gray took a solo run weaving past 4 Muntly players to score. With Ben off the pitch Josh Andrew took over the kicking duties and slotted 2 points. With the ball being kept by the forwards too much, the outside backs were a little frustrated, however Kai Taylor on the right wing managed to get the ball and used his pace to beat the Muntly backs and score wide, again for Josh Andrew to convert. This led to 54-0, where under the conference rules, the game had to be stopped. The remaining 7 minutes Ellon gave two players further to Muntly and reduced their own to 13, evening the game out.
A strong win for Ellon. They certainly earned the score for the first 25 minutes as they worked to their structure well. After that a little white line fever took over and players lost the structure a little. Everyone got good game time and they managed to rest a number of players who were carrying knocks. Up next is Gordonstoun away in what is usually a tough fixture! Ellon take a squad of 17 across to Elgin, looking to reverse the loss of last season.

Ellon Juniors travelled to St Andrews last Sunday to play in a festival. Hosted by Madras, they played Madras, Howe of Fife and Heriots, in a festival in which they used the new age grade law variations for the first time. Great game time for Ellon’s future stars, they played almost 60 minutes of rugby learning the new rules and taking on some decent teams.

Saturday Ellon First XV host Grangemouth as they travel north to the Meadows. Ellon hope to make the Meadows a fortress this year. Hopefully a big crowd will show up in support, certainly the Youth section will be heading back from Gordonstoun, hoping to be back for the 15:00 kick off.