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

It was an overcast day with slight damp conditions; Mackie U14s warmed up at Redcloak well with crisp passes and got the team up to speed to start the game - well done to Duncan Inglis for his leadership in this.

Taking on a formidable Deeside team, the Mackie boys were unfazed and stuck to their game plan. 11 minutes into the first half a quick one-two by Aedan Milne passing back to Evan Howie to put the first points on the scoreboard. Just 2 minutes after this, James Wardell, stepping up after playing a fantastic warm-up match against the Deeside U13 team, went over to score the second try of the game for Mackie. Two minutes on it was now Deeside’s turn to score a try, and fortunately for them, they were also able to convert the try. The Mackie team was holding things together well, but unfortunately, three quarters way through the first half, Connor Beatt sustained an injury in the scrum after a fantastic performance in the front row. This allowed another of the U13 players, Graeme Whittaker, to come on; seeing his fellow club mate come off must have spurred him on as Graeme’s contribution to the rest of the game was inspiring. End of the first half Mackie was leading by 10 points to 7.

With less than 10 minutes on the clock in the second half, Magnus Frame broke through an onslaught of tackles from Deeside to score another fantastic try for Mackie; followed by a conversion from Henry Aitken. Mackie were putting up a great scrum defence during the game even though they had a rocky start to their scrummaging. Well done to the forwards. When Duncan sustained a finger injury and had to come off, for the brief period that he was on the bench, the absence of his communication skills was noticed; but Dougie Robertson came on to take up the slack. Halfway through the second half, Brodie had a mighty run before scoring Mackie’s fourth try of the match. Within minutes, Deeside followed with a quick try, and then another 10 minutes later, bringing the score to 22:17. Deeside pulled together and looked like they had another try, but the Mackie defence held strong until the final whistle was blown, not a minute too soon.

Both teams were well matched, but Mackie played well as a team, and this pulled them through to win the match today. Huge thanks to Matthew Hughes from the U15 team who was a strong full back; plus the U13s who stepped up and supported us with the win today – Dougie Robertson, Graeme Whittaker, Harvey Parley, Jack Dargie, James Wardell, and Murray McLaughlin.

Bruce Aitken, U14s Coach