Ellon u13 v Mackie (AWAY)

Mackie away is never an easy fixture and so it proved to be in this case.

The game was moved to the Saturday to help Mackie field a team. This provided them with subs which added to the contest, one which the team stood up to well. With the score line not fully reflecting how the game went.

The first half seen Mackie come out of the blocks fast and caught us on the back foot. But great defensive work seen Mackie initially held up short of the line and then spilling the ball to give the team a wake up call.

Once we got out of the blocks the team started to show their real game with tries coming regularly despite strong defensive effort from Mackie. Their press defence in some cases caught us out leading to sections of scrappy play, disrupting our flow and playing into Mackie's hands.

Overall as a team we were more physical in the main stopping Mackie attacks but some good runners from Mackie did manage to get behind our defensive line on occasion bringing them one try in the first half.

Going into the second half Mackie had their tails up again with the game again having spells of scrappy play. In part due to the team not capitalising on their direct running with the ball being spilled and rucks not being secured. This will be a take away from the match as a work on which has been identified in the past.

Despite this the scoreboard moved along nicely with six Ellon tries against the two of Mackie - their second again coming from a good run from their #15.

It was around this time our Debutants of Harry and Eddie made their first starts with the team giving them real encouragement on the pitch. This helped them find their feet and their way into the game. Eddie came on at #8 with Harry moving into the front row. Prior to this our scrum was relatively reliable but with Eddie and Harry in there it was rock solid.

From this we started to move forward with purpose drawing in Mackie defenders and getting a rumble on. Directing running from the team with off load play ensuring Mackie kept going backwards was rewarded with Harry getting over for his first try for Ellon Rugby.

It could seem harsh to highlight some short comings in the game from the team play after a 48-12 away win, but with a long journey to Highland next week we will need to be on top form and improve on these area's.

Overall a good day for the team. For POTM it was hard to look past Harry, he came on as as sub made a big impact, got his first try. So well done Harry for getting your POTM.

Thanks again to all, see you next week.