Pre-season opener is 16 try thriller

Match report by CJ Thomson

Changeable weather conditions welcomed both teams to Kelland's park as both Fraserburgh and Dyce lined up to compete in their first pre-season friendly ahead of the 2018-19 season. Supporters were treated to a try glut in a match of two contrasting halves of rugby as Fraserburgh ran away with the match in the first 40 followed by a stirring Dyce comeback in the second.

Dyce got off to a very slow and poor defensive start and were 5 tries down within 22 minutes due to a combination of poor first up tackiling and a lack of intensity around the breakdown. Despite a couple of promising attacks, a better defensive shape helped stem the Fraserburgh onslaught after a stern telling off by head coach Guy Gibson, although Dyce still managed to let the Broch team through for another 4 tries before the break. Danny Macgregor, a late addition to the Dyce matchday squad, was introduced into the fray after the opening quarter of the match and began to exert his infludnce on the match with a series of big hits and strong carries. An offensive masterclass from the Broch #10 kept the Dyce defense guessing and a combination of mazy running and slick passing put in the Fraserburgh centres and wingers in for multiple scores. Of the ten first half Fraserburgh tries, eight were converted, effectively killing off the tie well before the referee's half time whistle.

HT Fraserburgh RFC 66-0 Dyce RFC

The second half saw the introduction of some replacements to bring a quicker pace to the game; the changes paid off almost immediately with Dyce by crossing the try line after five minutes of the restart to give Dyce their first try of the game. On the 53rd minute a clean break from substitute Finlay Hall saw him gobble up the open space in front of him to score Dyce's second try under the posts from the opponent's 10m line. With the pace of the match increased, coupled with more bite at the breakdowns, Dyce were beginning to assert themselves on the game; this was rewarded with a third try scored wide on the right by Jack Gray after some excellent offloading link up play by both forwards and backs.

The fight back was tempered however by the only Broch score of the second half in the closing stages. A breakaway try was scored from within the Fraserburgh by the Broch full back who managed to hold off the last-gasp Dyce tackles by Gregg Jack and CJ Thomson to stretch out and place the ball over the whitewash. The broch fly half added the extras to take his points haul from the afternoon to 26. Freshly subbed onto the pitch, Thomson was slow to get back into the action from the kick off after perfecting the preseason pitchside puke.

With the clock running down there was still plenty of action left in the game. Outside centre Rob Haden made a outside break before offloading to winger CJ Thomson, only to then be dangerously dump tackled by Fraserburgh #12. The referee brandished the yellow card for the dangerous tackle and sent the Broch player to the sidelines for the rest of the match. Dyce made the extra man pay who scored a try through Captain David Hay's direct running following clever phase play by the forwards. The final whistle blew after a Broch line out was not straight.

FT Fraserburgh RFC 74-29 Dyce RFC

MoTM: Danny Macgregor
DoTD: CJ Thomson

The final pre-season match for Dyce will be the hotly contested Old Boys match on 25th August which will also double up as the Mark Cheyne Memorial Trophy game for the 2018-19 season. Both teams will take to the Central Park pitch in Dyce for a 3pm KO.

Hope you can come along and join us for another afternoon of great rugby!

#MontheDyce