GARIOCH made the short trip to Aberdeen on Saturday to face league rivals Aberdeen Wanderers.

The two sides have been fierce rivals over the last few seasons and indeed they played out an extremely close encounter at Kellands Park in the reverse fixture in September. Accordingly, both sides knew that they would be in for a tough, keenly fought match.

With the weather looking increasingly ominous, Garioch took to the field with a familiar looking side. Parker, Benvie and Lang formed the front row ahead of Callow and McMahon at lock. Stuart Morrison, Scott Richardson and Willie McTurk completed a strong looking pack.

In the backs, Hardwick partnered Donaghue at half back with Euan Moir moving into the centres to join Tayler. The back three consisted of Bloice and Williamson on the wings with Chris Lawson at full back.

The match got underway with the visitors playing into the strong wind and it immediately became clear that this was not going to be a day for aficionados of fast flowing rugby. There was little to separate the sides in the opening exchanges but an infringement by the Wanderers pack allowed Tayler the opportunity for a shot at goal. The kick was struck well and Garioch took a 3-0 lead.

Following this however, Wanderers started to gain the ascendency in the match. Strong scrummaging and general forward play from the Groats Road men saw them have large chunks of the play as they worked their way up the park.

The pressure eventually told and Garioch conceded a penalty 22 metres out from the line. Wanderers stand off Tom Aplin confidently stepped up to the mark but he mistimed his swing and the ball sailed to the right of the posts.

Garioch, however, failed to take heed of this warning and soon after the home side managed to score the first try of the afternoon. The Garioch pack failed to stop a driving maul by the Wanderers forwards and their hooker dived over the line for the try. The conversion was successful taking the score to 7-3 Wanderers.

The weather was rapidly worsening and the promised torrential rain had finally reached Aberdeen. The umbrellas went up on the sidelines as the spectators struggled to stay dry under the deluge. Garioch tried to up their intensity levels but the driving rain was making any sort of back play nigh on impossible.

The style of rugby that the Garioch supporters had come to expect from the team was never in evidence. Despite some good attempts from the Garioch backline, the final pass was always a few inches away from its target.

The forward pack were also struggling with the physicality of the home side. Despite both sides making a valiant effort, the rest of the half remained scoreless with Wanderers taking their narrow lead into the break.

The intensity from both sides continued after the break with the teams showing a lot of passion in their performances. Despite the quality not always being in evidence, there was no doubt that the spectators were still enjoying the match.

Wanderers were still on top and following a period of intense pressure close to the line they managed to score their second try of the afternoon. A ruck near the line had sucked in a number of the Garioch backs and when the ball was eventually spun wide, Wanderers full back Andrew Lumley was able to cross the line on the outside. The conversion was missed from out on the right taking the score to 12-3.

Garioch suddenly realised that they were in danger of losing their 100 per cent record in the league and they began to pick up their play by a gear or two. The phases were starting to come together and the scrum improved markedly. Despite the improvement, it took a stroke of luck for Garioch to score their first try of the afternoon.

A misunderstanding in the Wanderers backline saw the ball being dropped to the deck. Tayler, seizing the opportunity, fly-hacked the ball towards the try line. As the ball skidded wildly across the turf, Tayler was able to outpace the covering defence to dive on the ball for the try. That score kept up his remarkable record of having scored in every game so far this season. The conversion was successful taking the score to 12-10.

Garioch could sense that the momentum was swinging in their favour and the Inverurie men continued to probe the Wanderers line. The home side managed to hold out all that the vistitors could throw at them leading to a number of frustrating mistakes.

That said, another good break from Tayler saw him burst through the defence towards the line. Although it looked to the spectators that he had scored his second of the afternoon, the referee ruled that the ball had been held up over the line. Wanderers managed to clear the ball from the resulting scrum.

Despite the onslaught, it was Wanderers who were to score the next points of the afternoon against the run of play. A seemingly aimless kick upfield skidded awkwardly on the sodden turf, deceiving the Garioch full back Lawson.

With the Garioch man floundering in the mud, the Wanderers second row MacDonald won the race to the ball to dive over for the try. Although the conversion was missed, Garioch were now seven points behind with only a few minutes left to play.

Garioch threw everything they had at the home side in the closing minutes but a combination of a lack of composure and excellent defence from the home side saw Garioch frustrated. In a finish that was just as tense as that seen at Murrayfield later on in the afternoon, Wanderers eventually held firm securing the victory.

Although Garioch had lost the match, there were some aspects of the play that will be pleasing to the coaches. That said, there is a great deal of work still to be done particularly with regard to adapting the game plan for adverse conditions.

Wanderers have now overtaken Garioch at the top of the table although Garioch still have a game in hand coupled with a vastly superior points difference.

This weekend sees a break from league action as Garioch travel to Inverness for a cup match.