Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Rugby: Aberdeen Grammar produce ‘gutsy display’ against Biggar; Highland impress in Dundee

Rubislaw side take positives from close encounter a week after suffering relegation.

Grammar's Tom Aplin holds off a challenge. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson
Grammar's Tom Aplin holds off a challenge. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Aberdeen Grammar put behind them a dreadful season in which they were relegated, turning in a defiant performance in a narrow 24-21 loss at Biggar.

It was an encouraging display from a young Grammar side who experienced back-to-back relegations.

Captain Tom Aplin, who was making his 99th appearance for Grammar, was delighted with the response of his side a week after going down.

He said: “This was a really gutsy performance. I am so proud of everyone, despite the result.

“The young boys stood up so well, particularly teenager Seamus Gilmartin, making his debut.

“He was dominant in the lineout, ably supported by No 8 Youssef Salem, backs Alistair Fitzgerald and Gregor Gourlay.

“This performance acts as a springboard for next season.”

But while the youngsters were the talk of the town, special mentions have to be made of players like Sam Knudson, Craig Shepherd and Liam Buchan who supplemented the youthful enterprises with mature, solid performances.

Grammar trailed 12-7 at the interval but rallied in the second half to retain parity in the second half with tries from prop Buchan and winger Ben Renton, adding to the first half touchdown of centre Shepherd, all converted by Aplin.

Grammar have two more games remaining in which to go down with a flourish against Gala at Rubislaw and Watsonians away.

Highland up the ante in second half

In the same division, Highland kept their top four aspirations alive in Dundee where the home side had no answer to the second half surge of the Canal Park side who were convincing 31-12 winners after being held 5-5 at half time.

Highland head coach Davie Carson. Image: Paul Glendell/DC Thomson

Davie Carson, the Highland head coach, was delighted with the second half performance which sets up an enthralling end-of-the-season encounter against league leaders Kelso who need one point from the game to end the season as National League One champions.

The Inverness side will almost certainly have to win to achieve their objective of a top four place.

‘Couldn’t have had better preparation’

Carson said: “This was the perfect response to last week’s sluggish showing at Rubislaw.

“We saw a dogged Dundee were tiring late in the first half and focused on giving them the runaround in the second half.

“It worked a treat with the forwards going through 15 phases before scoring our second try of the afternoon to add to lock Grant Jamieson’s first half effort.

“We just couldn’t have had better preparation for our big game with Kelso on April 15.”

Carson singled out prop Jonny Milton for special mention after the youngster scored Highland’s fifth try of the afternoon.

He added: “Once again he put in a huge shift, and there is more to come from him, of that I am sure.”

The other touchdowns were attributed to flanker Gregor Gordon, winger Magnus Henry and the ever-alert Hugo Crush who has made the No 9 berth his own.

Stand off Scott Fraser kicked three conversions.

But arguably the performance of the day was at Kinloss where the Eagles flew the flag for Caledonian by reaching a Murrayfield final when they held off the considerable challenge of Cumbernauld, scoring two late tries to ease through 31-17.

‘We have a league to win’

Coach Mike Lawton was delighted with the win which keeps the Eagles on course for a National Shield and league double.

He said: “It was a hard-fought affair which we just shaded.

“We look forward to being Caley’s only senior team to play in a Murrayfield final this season on May 6. In the meantime, we have a league to win.”

The Eagles tries were scored by Joe McLean, Steve Laidlaw, Tautusu Qanicui and Pita Moku.

The final of the National Bowl will be played at Murrayfield on Saturday May 6 when Kinloss Eagles meet Panmure who beat Edinburgh University Medics 19-14 in the second semi final.

Conversation