Greens finish with a flourish after back-to-back wins
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Back-to-back home wins ensured the curtain came down on the Greens’ 15-a-side season with a bit of a flourish.
A disjointed campaign, blighted by a succession of opposition call-offs, ended with a 12-try rout of Aberdeen Wanderers on Saturday.
The Granite City side did not want for spirit but their porous defence and lack of structure saw them revert to damage-limitation mode from early on.
Cameron Boyd’s men had targeted a bonus win which would enable them to leapfrog Ellon into fifth in the north conference of Caley 1.
That was as good as assured when Kevin Brims bagged their fourth try on 25 minutes.
The born-again number eight and converted winger Euan MacDonald each went on to register hat-tricks in the 74-3 victory.
Lock forward Kevin Budge was made captain for the day to mark what was billed as his last game for the club. The 35-year-old intends to take on a new off-field role as Boyd’s right-hand man.
A pumped-up Budge was soon prominent with two trademark powerful midfield carries in which he splintered the opposition rearguard.
The opening try on three minutes came from a maul driven from a lineout 15 metres out, with hooker Mark Nicolson propelled over the line.
Soon after, full-back Colin Gemmill was stopped a foot short before fly-half Jamie Mowat attacked the blindside and sent winger Drew Matheson over.
Mowat was provider again as his feed had Brims romping clear to touch down under the posts.
Mowat converted that as well as Brims’ second before Finlay Smeaton knocked over a penalty for the visitors.
MacDonald’s pace took him clear to grab the next two tries within five minutes before Mowat offloaded to scrum-half Gordie Macleod for the final touchdown of the first half.
Mowat added the extras to put his side 41-3 ahead at the interval.
The Greens retained the whip hand and only dogged defence kept the scoreboard static until the 53rd minute when Cole Wilson profited from a sparky break from centre partner Max Kennedy.
The visitors then shipped three tries in 10 minutes as they threatened to run out of steam.
Wilson gave the money passes as first Gemmill, then Nicolson, then MacDonald crossed.
The final try 12 minutes from time came after a forward rumble took play deep into the visitors’ 22 and Mowat’s long, cut-out pass put Brims in for his hat-trick.
Mowat goaled the first four tries and his bid for a second-half full house from the tee was thwarted when his touchline conversion of the last struck the nearside upright.
Head coach Boyd was generally happy with how his side, shorn of a handful of regulars, went about their business.
“We weren’t far short of scoring a point a minute against them,” he said. “While we looked good going forward, I thought our defence was also secure and we turned them over a couple of times when they were attacking our line.”
On Budge, he said: “I don’t know if that will be his last game in a green shirt, though I hope it isn’t.
“I’d love to know his yardage figures. He was everywhere and, as captain, he really lifted the boys.”
The Greens wrap up the season with a visit to the Orkney Sevens on May 4.
