On a blustery but sunny afternoon, the game got off to a slow start with Peterhead starting the match but only succeeded in kicking the ball directly into touch. Although Dyce retained possession and began making inroads to the Peterhead half, the early stages of the game were a midfield battle with both sides struggling to gain the upper-hand. With the referee keen to blow his whistle, indiscretions at the breakdown were common for both teams. As Dyce conceeded an early penalty within the Peterhead 22, the resulting punt from the penalty setup an early attacking lineout platform. The set piece was won by Peterhead and they set up a maul and drove for the line, crossing for the first try of the game. Peterhead missed the conversion but were 0-5 after 12 minutes. Peterhead took advantage of their early momentum and went over for another try at the 16 minute mark which was converted from in front of the posts.

Dyce finally kicked into life from the restart and caught 'heid napping, regathering the uphill restart and pushed onto the Peterhead half. More infringements at the breakdown led to yet more penalties for the visitors. One such penalty trickled into the Dyce dead ball area which was dotted down by Full Back Adam Watt for a 22' drop out midway through the first half. Despite regaining possession, Dyce contributed to their own downfall with an individual error ruthlessly punished following a Dyce scrum on the 10m line. Despite missing the opposition shove on Rob Haden without the ball, the red and blacks went over to score underneath the posts and the referee awarded the try despite Dyce protests (0-19 24 mins).

Despite the sunny weather, the pitch was heavy underfoot and cut up badly at scrum time, with several restarts being moved a significant distance away from the initial stoppage. With the referee insisting on a huge gap between the two teams at the lineouts it was seldom that lineouts were won against the throw despite good competition by both teams. Peterhead won their line out inside the Dyce half to setup an attacking platform, which after several phases, led to for another try out on the left hand wing. With the conversion missed the score stayed at 0-24 (32 mins).

Both teams played out the half in relative comfort without any further significant line breaks.

HT: Dyce RFC 0-24 Peterhead RFC

Dyce kicked off the second half and went on the attack, downhill and with the wind where the low sun began to come into play. The game became scrappy with the game being stopped on multiple occasions where both teams began to lose discipline and continue the fracas once the whistle had gone. Through their phase play and strong scrummage set piece Peterhead moved to the Dyce 22' and on 47 mins and went over to score their fifth try of the match. With the conversion good, the game was beginning to seem out of reach for Dyce (0-31).

Despite the strong ball carrying ability of the Peterhead pack, the Dyce players stubbornly held out in midfield barrage forcing the vistors to go wide to search for the space on the flanks. Great cover and scramble defence from the men in blue repelled the red and blck attack forcing turnovers through Peterhead handling errors as a direct consequence of the Dyce line press. Although Dyce pushed towards the Peterhead 22' late in the half, it was again the visitors who had the last say of the day following a lengthy injury break. From the restart at a scrum, Peterhead broke and scored the final converted try of the game to complete a 0-38 rout.

FT: Dyce RFC 0-38 Peterhead RFC

This was a disappointing result for Dyce, who never really threatened the Peterhead try line and went away feeling that the scoreline didn't fully reflect the closeness of the match for significant periods of play. Dyce wish Peterhead good luck for the rest of the season.

MOTM: Graeme Lowe

Dyce will pick themselves up and will be keen to go out hard against Fraserburgh in their next fixture, away in the Broch on March 10th following a three week break (12:15 KO). This will be the first of the two fixtures between the two bottom teams in the BT Caledonia 3 North league which will no doubt add a bit of extra spice to the match at James Ramsay Park.

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