ALL SQUARE AT THE SOGGY FORTESS

‘Shire took on North Police Scotland, in a Caley 2 league clash at Fortress Woodside. In the past this has proven to be a close encounter, and this time was to be no different.

The weather was typical for Aberdeen, with a cold rainy morning in the lead up to the game. Everyone in the backline knew this meant tough conditions to play in, whereas the forwards were confident in their handling ability while also appreciating the cooling effect of the weather.

‘Shire won the toss and started the match well. Some good forward play with hard running and big hits, combined with a strong and well organised defence in the backs kept the Police on the back foot. After 15 minutes ‘Shire took the lead, through some good rucking leading to quick ball from the ruck. The ball was shipped wide with some slick handling in the back line which led to winger Keiran "Jail Break" Fulton to dart over the line in the corner. This resulted in a tough conversion attempt for Gavin "Chavvy Chavmeister" Cunningham, especially given the conditions. Unfortunately Chavlar kicked the ball just wide of the posts, 5-0 to the hosts.

This galvanised the Police and they upped their work rate with hard runs and a few line breaks which helped to gain good field position. Although there were some handling errors in the backs, the Police managed to get through ‘Shire’s defensive line and over the try line to score. However, the defence managed to push them wide enough to cause difficulties with the conversion, which was also missed to make the score 5-5. The ‘Shire forwards immediately picked up where they left off, dominating the scrums and gaining meters with some good hard running from Paul "The Llama" Watson and Fraser "Incestual Foursome" Foreman. The Police pushed back with some good attack of their own, breaking several tackles to score a converted try and gain the upper hand. 5 - 12 to the visitors.

In the following phases, ‘Shire were let down by their tackling technique a number of times, but held firm and with some clever tactical kicking, managing to gain good field position just inside their opponents 22.

Scrum half Paul Harrow passed from the base of the ruck to Gav who had seen a gap and ran a hard tight line. The 1st tackler made a good hit, but not good enough. Gav stayed on his feet and kept going to score under the posts - only after shrugging off another tackler or two. He showed off by converting his own try which brought the scoreline even.

HT: 12 - 12

Unfortunately, the start of the 2nd half didn't bring any better weather with it. From the kick off the ball was caught by Barry "Gary" Davies. He drove through gaining 5 meters, but more importantly, drawing in a couple of defenders in the process. Harrow collected the ball and ran wide before making a cut with Jason Burrrrton who broke the line after indentifying a gap. Being a prop at heart, the gap wasn't quite big enough for him to squeeze through so he just ran over the defender. After then beating the last defender, Burton began to panic over the prospect of running the 50 clear metres he had just created in front of him. Burton slowed down just enough (before "tripping over his laces") for flanker Kenny Penman to catch up and take the offload. He stormed through before easily stepping ex-Shire traitor Matt "FFL" Barker who was tracking back to attempt the tackle. This just left Kenny to ground the ball under the posts, an easy conversion making the score 19 - 12 to ‘Shire.

The visitors immediately came back with some hard attacking play, but the weather proved to be a factor for both sides with multiple handling errors in the backs. ‘Shires defence improved with some big hits from Jonny "50 Shades Of" Gray and company, the police struggled to make any meaningful territory gains. That was, until yet another ex-Shire man Matt McCall broke the line from the 22, and went under the posts. The converted try meant the score was now 19 - 19.

‘Shire immediately went on the attack, starving the Police of the ball, but due to a few penalties they struggled to gain momentum. As the match was coming to an end, ‘Shire could feel that a win for either team could happen due to a single mistake or moment of brilliance. Unfortunately, it was the former, with a dubious knock on awarded on the 5 metre line. Shire couldn't steal the ball back, so this resulted in the Police kicking the ball dead and ending the match. The Police celebrated prematurely, assuming they were in the lead - as it stood at Full Time.

FT: 19 - 19.

A fair result for what was a hotly contested and bruising match with excellent rugby played by both sides.

Thanks to all the supporters coming down on a horrible day, the team loves seeing people down cheering!

With recent results improving and still plenty to work on, Aberdeenshire are hoping to take some good form into their next game at home against Mackie in the league, and then further to the Regional Bowl Final on the 7th December against Aberdeen University.

Training continues tonight for all adult sections with the Supa Twas also away to Fraserburgh Rugby and the 'Shire Quines hosting a Development game at Woodside at 12pm this Saturday.

MEN'S RUGBY TRAINING
Time: 18:30 - 20:00
Location: Woodside Sports Complex, AB24 2UL

WOMEN'S RUBGY TRAINING
Time: 19:30 - 21:00
Location: Woodside Sports Complex, AB24 2UL

All ability, fitness and experience levels welcome!