Aberdeen Warriors head coach Craig Parslow feels his side can take many positives from their first Scottish Cup appearance in four years, despite being knocked out at the hands of Edinburgh Eagles at Westdyke.
With more game time under their belts, the Eagles ran away with it in the second-half to chalk up a 60-16 win as a resilient Warriors fought hard in an often physical encounter.
The hosts had opened the scoring within the first five minutes through Archie Andrade, but the Eagles cancelled that out with five tries of their own to lead 26-6 at the interval.
Warriors then weathered a rough third quarter, before rallying after four more Eagles tries to snatch two well-worked scores back through Ollie Nash.
Nash’s first try was superbly converted by Bryn Perrot, before he took full advantage of an Eagles error under a high ball to add the Warriors’ third of the day.
Your #AberdeenWarriors to face @edineagles in the @scotlandrl Cup this Saturday at Westdyke Leisure Centre in Westhill KO 1400 pic.twitter.com/tagEhnXu1X
— Aberdeen Warriors RL (@AberdeenWarrior) July 22, 2021
The visitors added two more tries to their tally but Warriors head coach Parslow recongnised the positives in defeat.
He said: “It’s a great achievement that we’ve been able to return this season.
“I didn’t put too much pressure on the lads because I knew it would be tough and I saw a lot of positives in our first half performance.
“The Eagles are a good side, having recently competed strongly in the North-East Cup. We’re looking forward to competing in the National League as well next season.”
This was only the second time the Warriors had participated in a competitive match since 2017. Their previous fixture being an impressive 84-10 win against the Forth Valley Vikings in the first round.