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Winners at last, Aberdeen Grammar put their run of poor form behind them to beat Jad-forest in some style for their first National League 1 win this term.
Grammar’s second-half dominance at Rubislaw was total as they scored 27 unanswered points.
Coach Stuart Corsar said: “It was a good result for us. Jed gave us a very hard first half and it was all up for grabs.
“I’m just glad our lads showed their character. They performed well in the second half.
“The best part was near the end of the second half when we kept the pressure on and didn’t give Jed a sniff. We were more balanced today.”
Encouragingly for Grammar they were able to claim a welcome try bonus point for their four tries and, with stand off Alex Hagart in imperious kicking form, the result was never seriously in doubt once the homesters got into their stride. The Scotland under-20 player kicked all four conversions and three penalties, capping a splendid day with a touchdown of his own, giving him a haul of 22 points.
The win owed much to his scrum half partner Morgan Ward, who defended and attacked with gusto, setting up Hagart for his try.
Jed-forest enjoyed the better of the first half, enabling them to go into the break with a 12-10 lead – with Mark Meek grabbing a try and centre Ross Combe a second, converted by stand off Greg Danil.
The home reply came from prop Peter Gillies. Hagart added the conversion and the first of his hat-trick of penalties to keep his side in the game.
The second half was an entirely different matter as Grammar took over, snuffing out the Jed-forest challenge while scoring well-worked tries from Louis Kinsey, lock Callum Harvey and Hagart.
Hagart added the extras and kicked two more penalties.
The sin-binning of Jed-forest forwards Graham Slorance and Graham Robinson did not help the Border cause, although the Rubislaw side needed little help from referee Alistair Watt.
There will be no room for complacency in training this week as a visit to Selkirk, who are unbeaten in six starts, will keep the Aberdeen side focused.
© Jack Nixon
Aberdeen Grammar: Graeme Clow; Grant Walker, Sam Knudson, Conor Lavery, Lemarre Bouchehati; Alex Hagart, Morgan Ward; Peter Gillies, Rob Coates, Colin Neilson; Aaron Robertson, Stuart Smith; Calum Champion, Billy Bisset, Louis Kinsey.
Replacements: Murray McCallum, Callum Harvey, Chris Jollands, Jamie Gilmour, Alex Ratcliffe.
Jed-forest: Fraser Harkness; Robert Hogg, Ross Combe, Declan Wallace, Mark Burke; Greg Danil, A Thomson; R Gibson, D Natey, Graham Slorance; John Szkudro, Gregor Law; Graham Robson, Michael Meekley, Mark Meek.
Replacements: C Lothian, J Barrie, G Taylor, E Munro, R Miller.