With the clouds forming in the sky over Dyce giving much welcomed shade across the pitch, the home team in blue geared up for a very winnable match.

With Dyce playing downhill and with a slight wind advantage in the first half, they started fast looking to put points on the board from the outset. Both teams struggled to string together several phases and the first half was a relatively evenly matched contest.

After some pressure on the Dyce right flank, Graeme Lowe picked and drove from close range to cross the try line around the 20th minute, registering the first points of the match. David Hay slid the conversion wide of the posts from the left hand side. Dyce were unlucky not to go further ahead, with Craig Philip seemingly to have forced his way to the try line and planted the ball on the whitewash only for the referee to blow his whistle and award a knock on in the act of scoring.

Following some more evenly match play Moray were awarded a penalty just outside the Dyce 5m line. With the Moray scrum having the upper hand in the match, they managed to drive the scrum over the line to even up the scores at 5 points each. With the blustery wind blowing across the pitch, the ball fell off the tee during the conversion attempt and the charge down by David Hay was deemed to be within the laws of the game despite Moray protests.

HT: Dyce RFC 5 - 5 Moray RFC 2s

Playing up hill in the second half, Dyce would have to battle the slope and the wind. With an even opening period Dyce were able to take advantage of a series of penalties which were kicked into touch by David Hay. With the lineout functioning slickly possession was retained allowing Graeme Lowe to cross the line to score his second of the game. David Hay was unable to slot the conversion from wide on the right as the windy conditions played their part and held the ball up.

As the game heated up, tempers started to flare. A scuffle ensued on halfway and ended with a Moray Centre being yellow carded for needlessly throwing the ball at a Danny Macgregor's face. Some have argued it now looks better than before..

Dyce capitalised with the extra man almost immediately with a fantastic break from Gregg Jack up the centre of the field only to be hauled down 5 metres out in front of the posts. Great support from five Dyce team mates recycled the ball efficiently allowing Andrew Clarke to pick up the ball from the deck and crossed the line under the posts to score Dyce’s 3rd try of the match. David Hay slotted an easy conversion.

Moray were awarded a penalty in the middle of the park and opted to kick to touch; an unorthodox attempt at keeping the ball in play by full back Adam Watt was penalised by the referee and a yellow carded was shown for a deliberate knock-on leaving both teams with 14 men on the park. Moray reduced the deficit by 3 points from a penalty awarded on the Dyce left.

Some even play ensued until both teams were restored to 15. Dyce pushed for the bonus point win but Moray managed to stop them in their tracks winning penalty after penalty at the scrum.

Moray pushed to close the deficit in the closing exchanges and tried to earn themselves a losing bonus point from Dyce with sustained pressure inside the Dyce half. Their scrum was on top and pushing towards the Dyce line earning them multiple penalties. Dyce conceded 4 in a row at a scrum 5 metres out in front of their own posts; advantages were snuffed out with great last ditch defending on the line repelling the Moray onslaught. The Moray offensive ended as the referee blew for a Dyce penalty as the away side infringed with illegal binding.

Dyce cleared their lines from the penalty. With less than a minute left, the Dyce forwards used their experience in slowing the tempo of the game and sidled up to the lineout. They secured line-out ball was cleared into touch at the second attempt. The full time whistle blew and the celebrations began for the home team.

FT: Dyce RFC 17 - 8 Moray RFC 2s

MOTM: Graeme Lowe
DOTD: Adam Watt