In their first league match against Aberdeen Wanderers, Ellon U14s were keen to impress following their pre-season match against a strong Wanderers’ side. Some initial handling errors by Ellon saw the Wanderers dominate the first 5 minutes of the match, until Ellon’s No 15 Spencer Booth broke through and charged down the right wing from the 10m line to score Ellon’s first try of the match. The try was well supported by the whole Ellon team who prevented Aberdeen Wanderers’ players from catching him. A good effort to convert the try was narrowly missed making the score 3-0 to Ellon.

Aberdeen Wanderers were then in possession but Ellon U14s began to put them under pressure with some big tackles from No 3 Euan Sinclair and No 8 Shaun Shepherd. A penalty against the Wanderers led to a Wanderers’ scrum which they won, passing the ball out to their backs who progressed quickly down the pitch. An excellent tackle by Ellon’s No 13 Max saw an Ellon turnover. There followed an exciting phase of play with the ball passing back and forth between two well-matched teams and plenty of strong Ellon tackles and rucking. An Ellon line out was quickly followed by a Wanderers’ penalty and scrum. In the first of several examples of Ellon’s forward pack showing strength and dominance during the match, Ellon turned over the scrum against the head in the 22. The ball was sent out wide along the line to Ellon’s No 15 Spencer Booth on the right wing and he scored his second try of the match. No 10 Chester Mulliner made a brilliant kick from the right wing at the edge of the 22 for the conversion. The score was 7-0 to Ellon.

Aberdeen Wanderers came back strongly and looked as if they might score as they pushed hard up the pitch but Ellon’s players put in huge team effort and defended well, turning the ball over right on the 5m line and preventing a Wanderers’ try. Ellon quickly kicked the ball down the field and out of the danger zone. With the ball caught by a Wanderers’ back, a big tackle by Ellon’s No 12 Brodie Macalister put the ball back in Ellon hands. No 8 Shaun Shepherd then made swift progress towards the try line but a hand off saw a penalty awarded to Aberdeen Wanderers.

The whole of Ellon’s scrum drove though and turned the scrum over for the second time. However possession was quickly lost and Wanderers’ No 12 charged from the centre line to score Wanderers’ first try of the match - with a couple of missed tackles by Ellon allowing him to break through their back row. The try was quickly converted by Wanderers’ No 15 and the half-time whistle blew.

Half-time score 7-4 to Ellon.

Ellon U14s returned to the pitch after half-time showing real determination to close the win. Ellon No 8 Shaun Shepherd broke away early, running strongly for the try line. A late Wanderers’ tackle on the 5m line saw him quickly recycle the ball to No 6 Fraser Leuchars who very nearly made the try but under massive pressure from a solid Wanderers’ defence passed back to Shaun Shepherd who broke through to score Ellon’s third try of the match. No 15 Spencer Booth successfully kicked the conversion, making the score 11-4 to Ellon.

Back to the centre line for a Wanderers’ tap and go but Ellon kept the pressure up and turned the ball over successfully. Ellon’s No 13 Max was charging up the right wing, when a strong tackle by Wanderers saw him make a quick back-hand pass to Spencer Booth out on the wing - quick thinking and a nice play but unfortunately resulting in a forward pass and a scrum to Wanderers. However, Ellon’s pack continued to dominate and won possession of the scrum again. There followed a period of exciting back and forth play between the teams with some excellent tackling from both sides.

An Ellon line out saw the ball kicked into touch leading to another Wanderers’ scrum, this time on Ellon’s 10m line. Once again Ellon put in some excellent scrummaging and turned the scrum over. In a well-executed play, No 15 Spencer Booth then chipped the ball cross-field to No 10 Chester Mulliner who made a strong run for the try line up the right wing, only to be thwarted by a strong Wanderers’ attack. A defensive error by Ellon resulted in a further Wanderers’ scrum. Again Ellon’s forwards excelled, turning over the scrum for the fifth time and the ball was passed out to No 12 Brodie Macalister who ran the ball up to Ellon’s 22 line but was called back for a further Wanderers’ scrum due to an earlier knock-on. This time Wanderers retained the scrum and made good progress down the pitch towards the try line. Ellon defended well however, putting the Wanderers’ players under a lot of pressure with Spencer Booth able to pressure the Wanderers’ winger to step out, preventing a try.

There followed a line out to Ellon which was quickly turned over back to the Wanderers. Again Ellon’s strong defensive line led to a series of brilliant tackles driving the Wanderers back into their own half. Max made another excellent tackle in his debut outing for the team. The ball was again played back and forth inside the Wanderers’ 10m line between two equally determined and well matched teams. A knock on by Ellon resulted in another Wanderers’ scrum which they won. There followed another series of excellent tackles by Ellon which led to the ball being put out and a line out for Ellon on the halfway line. Further back and forth play led to another Wanderers’ scrum which was once again turned over by Ellon’s dominant pack. A quick pass out the back of the scrum from No 9 Dexter Marsh to No 10 Chester Mulliner then on to No 12 Brodie Macalister. Brodie proceeded to sell the Wanderers’ back line three dummies and ran in a try from the halfway line. Chester then kicked another excellent conversion, taking the score to 15-4.

Fast and pressured play in the next phase saw Shaun Shepherd chasing down the Wanderers’ very fast No 15 on the right wing, pressuring the ball out of play for another Ellon line out. The Wanderers continued to strongly contest for the ball and a penalty against Ellon led to a Wanderers’ line out. In this final phase, a visibly determined Wanderers’ team put in a big effort to even up the score, sprinting down the left wing towards the try line, but Ellon’s No 14 Harry Blackadder chased the ball down, putting the Wanderers’ player into touch to end the game with Ellon U14s winning 15-4.

Well done to the whole Ellon team for a thrilling game where they more than showed up and played some excellent rugby. Kudos also to Aberdeen Wanderers who also played well and gave Ellon a compelling and close game. However credit must go to Ellon for excellent defence on the 5m line and a very impressive run of dominant scrums.