The destination of the RBS Caledonia Cup was decided at Duffus Park, Cupar, on Saturday and Aberdeen Grammar Rugby’s 14-13 win over Howe of Fife rendered the final Aberdeen GR match against Kirkcaldy unnecessary.
It was muted celebration which greeted the final whistle, though, in a game which coach Kevin Wyness collected his first silverware as Aberdeen coach and took his side into the last eight of the RBS Cup.
“We were outplayed and out-thought by a very organised Howe side in the first half,” he admitted, “but we never gave up and we dominated the second half to take a narrow win.”
Dominic Martin got Howe on the board with an early penalty but, on their first foray into Howe territory in the 15th minute, Aberdeen took the lead after lock Andy Crammond finished of a fine move by the pack and Mark Ryan converted.
Howe cranked up their game and after Martin had sunk his second penalty, they ended the half with slick hands leading to a Girvin Imrie try and Martin conversion which took them in at the break 13-7 ahead.
The screw was well and truly turned on the Howe defence in the second half but it was only in the final 10 minutes that the Howe rearguard capitulated however, as Struan Cessford drove over for Graeme Clow to land the winning conversion for the Premiership side.
The other two matches in the Caledonia Cup served principally to tidy up the table with Dundee HSFP turning a narrow 15-12 half-time lead over Falkirk into a 30-12 final scoreline thanks to tries from Bryce Hosie, Ian Russell, Callum Bowie and Alan Brown, with Hosie bringing his tally to 15 with a couple of conversions and penalties.
Dundee head coach Colin Robertson used the cup to blood new talent and look at combinations.
He said: “We learned a lot about a number of players which helps with options towards our league games coming up.
“Falkirk were a tough outfit and it was an open and quick game.
“We had strong performances from Chris Jollands, Robin Cessford, and Nick Alston showed up well, plus we finished the last 20 minutes with four 18-year-olds in the pack performing well.”
In the other pool tie, visitors Kirkcaldy won 26-24 at Aberdeenshire.