Report by Graeme Lowe

Dyce welcomed BT Caledonia North 2 side Banff to Central Park to kick off the season proper, with the sun out and weather dry, only the blustery wind could spoil the near perfect conditions for some great running rugby. After some last minute scrambling to get a team out with 20 players unavailable, powerful forward & man mountain Byron Stirton found himself starting in the centres and flanker Andrew Clark on the wing. It also marked the first ever game of rugby for Declan Coutts who started the game at fullback.

From the kick off Dyce rushed forward and immediately put the Banff players under pressure. This pattern continued throughout the opening exchanges with Dyce showing good defensive organisation and a much improved scrum. At points Dyce threatened to break through and open the scoring but a combination of tight decisions and handling errors halted this. It took 15 minutes for Banff to break down the determined Dyce defence after several phases found a gap out wide. Even with the opening score under their belts, Banff knew they were in for a game despite the significant gap in terms of league pedigree.

Dyce found themselves being forced into early changes following injuries, not helped by the dry conditions and resulting hardness of the pitch. Gallant in defence, Phil Horsfall's last ditch tackle saved a further try causing a knock-on in the act of scoring for Banff in the middle of the first half. The team adjusted well but the quantity of opposition proved too great and 3 more tries were ran in before the half time whistle, the second being a soft kick off return with a missed tackle in the centre of the park.

HT: Dyce RFC 0-26 Banff RFC

The second half found Dyce having very little ball possession and this was punished as Banff refreshed thing off the bench and began to rack up the deficit. Strong ball carrying by the visitors gave them quick front foot ball as the blue and white hoops showed off their superior pedigree. Patchy Dyce defensive pressure did force errors although these were not capitalised upon when the opportunities presented themselves.

Gritty scramble defence was shown on a couple of occasions; firstly Danny MacGregor held the ball up when Banff had crossed the line following a series of toe to toe scrum exchanges on the Dyce 5m line, and Graeme Lowe threw in a last-gasp try saving tackle to dislodge the ball when the Banff winger was diving for the try line wide on the right. There was some strong individual performances but the defensive line press and some of the tackling left a lot to be desired. By the final whistle Dyce were struggling to keep 15 players on the field due to injuries but saw it through to the end, staying compact in the middle & forcing the visitors to go wide to score.

The final try & conversion was fittingly scored by Banff #12 Gordon Robertson, who capped off a fine performance with a personal points tally of 29 (3 tries & 7 conversions).

FT: Dyce RFC 0-59 Banff RFC

Sorting out some of the will give us a very realistic chance of turning in a strong league showing.

MoTM: Danny MacGregor for an excellent defensive effort.

DoTD: Graeme Lowe for a somewhat questionable clearing kick and 25 yard pass.

MTD

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