Inspiresport Boy's U13 and U14 Caledonia (North) Club Fixture

The ground had thawed, it was a dry and mild morning, making pleasant playing conditions as Mackie U13 hosted Deeside at Redcloak. The visitors were light on numbers and so Harvey Parley and Angus Duffy showed great sportsmanship stepping up to even the numbers.

The boys have not played for three weeks, and they have missed a couple of training sessions due to the recent cold snap, but they were able to demonstrate they have been paying attention at training. Mackie looked the stronger team from the start, but Deeside put in some strong tackles making Mackie work for it. But before long, Murray Mclaughlin was able to cross the line scoring the first try. Mackie were able to keep or gain possession in the breakdown allowing two more tries in the first third, Graeme Whittaker (Captain) and James Wardell adding to the score sheet. All three tries were scored in the corner making the conversions difficult. End of the first third Mackie leading 17 points to nil.

The second third was similar to the first. Mackie looked stronger. Deeside had some threatening runs, but Mackie were able to make the tackles and regain possession. Mackie tried a bit of flare. A cross-field kick was tantalising close but was knocked on at the catch. A chip through bounced badly and into the hands of a Deeside player. But they kept going and soon added three more tries. Stefan Moir scoring the next try followed by Angus McNally scoring two fantastic tries with long runs down the left wing. Deeside had a leg injury so Dylan Main stepped up and swapped sides to keep the teams even. End of the second third Mackie 34 points to nil.

Taking advantage of the lead we mixed some positions to give players some new experiences. Playing out of position led to a bit of honey potting but, Mackie continued to play well scoring four more tries. James Wardell getting his second, Sandy Broadley showing his strength and speed to score two brilliant tries from close to the halfway line. Murray McLaughlin scoring the last try of the morning to make the final score Mackie 58 v Deeside 0.

Lots of positives being shown and a real confidence booster for the boys. It was a real team effort, making tackles, working hard on and off the ball to help set up the tries. Nice to watch.

Mark Goalen, U13s Lead Coach