Ellon u13 v Garioch (HOME)

What a great way to start the League off, a comprehensive win against Garioch.

From the outset it was clear the extra game time Ellon had verses Garioch who were playing their first game of the season made a difference.
During the game it could however be seen with extra game time under their belt Garioch could be a real handful.

Consideration to the warm weather was given in this fixture which moved to 3x15min periods to allow for extra water breaks and substitutions.

The Pitchero live scoreboard gives a pretty accurate reflection of the game, with Ellon just about out of sight in the first period 31-5 up.
The impressive ruck and support play for Ellon continued through out the game, with Garioch scores only coming from one up runners.
This was complimented with improved play across the backline getting our wide players more involved in the game.

In the bigger picture the focus on this week was communication and trying to adopt the 'Ellon Way' the DNA of the club that was rolled out to youth coaches this week. With the aim in introducing it in an appropriate way for the u13s'. This concentrated on using terminology that is consistent throughout the club age groups right up to the Senior 1st XV. We are taking this at one step at a time but there are good signs in increased communication when attacking the ball that is standing the team in good stead. So expect to hear more phrases like 'Set Set Set Hit'& 'Build a wall'.

Captaincy is being rotated the aim being to select players to have 3 turns at being Captain and grow the leadership within the squad.
Captaincy was handed over to Noah Scarisbrick for todays game. We thank Hamish Henderson for his three stand out performances as Captain.

Noah also took POTM today with a strong physical performance all round the pitch.

With player availability and the way the game developed players were switched around from their more typical positions. Most notable Noah Paisley playing at #8. It was great to see his commitment to get involvement in the game. The backline also had a few tweaks showing that we have options on who to play where and how to play - all very positive going forward.

Another great day at the office, made all the better by the great support from the side lines - we are looking forward to more of the same away to Aberdeen Grammar next week.

Final thank-you to the Chilton family for your help today with the players food and with the kit wash - good day to pick great drying weather!