S2 Victory in Ellon

For the final game of the season Mackie went up the road in the return fixture from the previous weekend.

With 2 new players making their Mackie debuts for the S2's it was going to be an interesting game.

Fairly early on Mackie showed their dominance by controlling the game and keep possession.

This led to hooker Kieran Fulton (pictured above) going over for the first try of the day, which was converted by Kieran Dyer.

With so much possession it was only a matter of time before Mackie got their second, some great offloading in the build up allowed Dyer to get over the line, but he was unable to convert this time.

Ellon then started to bully the slightly smaller Mackie forwards and were causing them a lot of trouble at the breakdown. This led to Ellon getting on the scoresheet, but being forced out wide meant the missed the conversion.

The first 20 minute period was rounded off by another try this time from full back Ross Gill, Dyer again failing to get the conversion.

Going into the first break Mackie led 17-5.

The middle 20 minutes saw the Ellon boys fight back, some poor tackling by Mackie and failing to deal with the larger Ellon pack at the breakdown led to them leaking another try, crucially Ellon failed to convert again.

During the middle 20 Mackie did not look the same team that had scored 3 tries in 20 minutes earlier on. With the next break allowing for some stern words from the Mackie coaches the boys knew what was needed in the last 20 to get the win.

Score after the first 2 periods was Mackie 17 Ellon 10.

Ellon struck quickly in the third period with an unconverted try to bring them within 2 points of the Mackie boys.

After some truth calling by the players behind the posts they were determined not to let this game slip away from them.

After the restart Mackie went straight back on the offensive and Ross Gill, now at centre, broke through the midfield, doing his trademark zig zag run to score under the posts, making the conversion easy for Dyer.

There was then an exchange of tries as Ellon yet again managed to bulldoze their way through the Mackie forwards for a score, and finally got a conversion.

This was then cancelled out by Gill getting his third try of the game, which Dyer again managed to convert.

Ellon it back late on and were able to get another converted try, to once again bring them to within 2 points.

It was a nervy last few minutes for the Mackie coaches and supporters who watched their side give away 3 penalties in a row before Ellon knocked it on, ending the game and giving Mackie a narrow victory.

Final score: Ellon 29 - 31 Mackie

Mackie S2 Squad: C Hepburn, K Fulton, J McGregor, H Jacobsen, S Mann, G Simpson, R Moar, K Dyer, S Ferguson, F Park, L Carmichael, R Gill, C Pethick

S1's who helped out: Callum, Mikey, Rhuiri, Zander and Sam