HILLFOOTS........................................21

ABERDEEN WANDERERS...............36

Tennent's Caledonia Region League Division 1

IT WAS a tale of ill-discipline for Hillfoots at home this week to Aberdeen Wanderers.

The home team were looking forward to their last game before Christmas and were hopeful of finishing 2019 with a win.

Hillfoots kicked-off after winning the toss and chose to play uphill with the wind at their backs.

Straight from the kick-off Hillfoots kept the ball in the pack making yards, slowly but surely.

The ball was spun out to the backs but a loose pass resulted in Wanderers collecting the ball to then score, this was converted and Hillfoots were behind despite having had most of the possession.

Hillfoots then applied more pressure in the Wanderers half, but a further handing error allowed Wanderers to counter attack.

The attack was thwarted well by Elliot Chadwick, but he was deemed to have infringed and this resulted in a the first yellow card of the day.

Down to 14 men Hillfoots conceded a further try under the posts. The men from Tillicoultry did not give up, though.

They battled well and after a substantial period of possession the ball was spun wide for Vondo Millard to roll back the years and score.

Chadwick returned to the pitch, but it wasn't long before the second yellow of the game as Jon McMurdo was binned for 10 minutes after an off-the-ball incident.

Hillfoots went into the break down 10-7 and started the second half still down to 14 men. Wanderers soon took their opportunity to enhance their lead with a quick try.

McMurdo returned to the pitch and finally the expectant crowd thought the game would now swing in Hillfoots' direction.

Sadly, this was not to be the case as not long after the 15th man entered the pitch Chadwick was again given his marching orders.

A second yellow card, this time for obstruction, meant Hillfoots would play the rest of the game with just 14 men.

Wanderers managed to pick up a couple of further tries which effectively put the game to bed, as they used the numerical advantage to find holes out wide in the Hillfoots defence.

Foots battled on and scored two consolation tries and they chased the bonus point, firstly Paul Slade battled over in his usual robust style, then Brad Bell powered over after decent work by the Hillfoots pack.

With the home side attacking again looking for the try bonus point they were bundled into touch which ended the game at 21-36.

It was a hard end to the year for the lads who worked hard during the game, but with only 14 men on the pitch for 50 minutes it was a massive uphill battle.

Missed opportunities throughout the first half of the season have really seen to boys struggle on the league table and captain Slade is hoping to turn these opportunities into points in 2020.