Gala 30 - 17 Aberdeen GSFP: Grammar lesson as Borderers triumph

For the first half-an-hour, though, he could have had few complaints. The first try came within ten minutes of the start, with Gala already having registered a well struck penalty from the ten-metre line by the impressive Lee Millar. Apart from the fact that he plays at scrum-half, George Graham junior is a chip off the old block, and when Gala got a lineout in the Aberdeen 22 and Chris Weir soared to take the ball, Graham burst through a huge hole in the lineout to crash over. It was one straight out of the Owen Franks playbook.

After an opening set of exchanges that had been characterised by a seemingly endless succession of dropped passes in the heavy drizzle, that try signalled the opening of the floodgates. Next to go over was wing Shaun Law after he outpaced the cover to touch down what had looked like an innocuous punt ahead by Craig Borthwick.

By halfway through the first half the ball had dried, ball-playing No.8 Euan Dods was conducting operations with aplomb and Gala were running riot. At times it looked like Aberdeen were providing little more than token opposition. The next Gala player to cross the whitewash was fullback Andy McLean, who slid over after a break initiated by Gary Graham was given real momentum by brother George and finished by the fullback. On the half hour, Gala underlined their utter domination with a textbook lineout drive from the Aberdeen 22, with second row Opeta Palepoi eventually touching down.

Gala have been going like a steam train this season, but the first half was characterised as much by Aberdeen’s lack of confidence as the home side’s determination to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. That all changed, though, as soon as Gala had crossed for their fourth try and claimed the bonus point.

The Aberdeen fightback started straight from the restart, when the visitors kicked away from the forwards, Gala spilled the ball and speedy Kiwi outside centre Apelu Alapati scooted around the cover to touch down in the corner less than a minute after Gala had taken a 27-0 lead and apparently finished the game.

Heaven knows what Aberdeen coach Alex Duncan said to his men during the interval, but whatever it was, it worked. Aberdeen came out after the break with a purpose and vigour which had been entirely absent in a muted first-half display. The change of attitude immediately bore fruit, with former Selkirk centre Alex Dunbar crossing in the corner for an outstanding score after a sweeping move that involved virtually all of the visiting back division.

Five minutes later, Aberdeen were at it again, with Alapati skipping through some toe-curlingly powder-puff tackling to go over under the posts. This time his compatriot, stand-off Rob Aloe, was able to convert the try, bringing an Aberdeen side that had looked like non-combatants for most of the first half to within ten points of their hosts.

Aberdeen were completely galvanised and flew at Gala with a determination that was in stark contrast to their earlier efforts.

Orcadian Erland Og and his fellow wing Callum Anderson enjoyed the space they found on several occasions, and had their teammates in the Aberdeen back division gone wide on the three occasions in the second half when they had clear overlaps, rather than cutting inside into heavy traffic, the result of this match could well have turned out differently.

Yet Gala have become used to weathering their strangely weak third quarter performances and as they managed to withstand the Aberdeen storm, they gradually began to close the game out. When, with three minutes left, Aberdeen tried running the ball out of their 22 and were caught in possession, Millar kicked a penalty to put the result beyond doubt.

Coach George Graham was not happy though. “This just highlights the fact that we have to play for 80 minutes,” he said. “We can’t play for 40 minutes and come away with a win. Aberdeen were very close to beating us there, and only some good scrambling defence in the second half stopped them.

“I’m absolutely furious with the boys because after dominating every aspect of the game in a first half when we were near perfect, we never turned up in the second half.”

Scorers: Gala: Tries: G Graham, Law, McLean, Palepoi. Cons: Millar 2. Pens: Millar 2. Aberdeen Grammar: Tries: Alapati 2, Dunbar. Con: Aloe.

Gala: A McLean; S Law, C Auld, C Borthwick, C Robertson; L Millar, G Graham; L Bertram, R Anderson, E McQuillin, C Weir, O Palepoi, D Marshall, G Graham, E Dods.

Aberdeen Grammar: W Percival; C Anderson, A Alapati, A Dunbar, E Oag; R Aloe, M Ward; N Fraser, S O’Connor, R Allen, E Nimmons, M Douglas, S Warnock, T McGuinness, G Ryan.

Referee: Rob Dickson.