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| GRANGEMOUTH 38 - CAITHNESS 6 by Iain Grant |
| Fri 19th Oct 2007 |
Greens coach Jim MacMillan has not yet been reduced to prowling the streets looking to pressgang recruits to bolster his threadbare squad.
But such extreme measures may cross his mind if the current run of personnel problems continue to beset the club’s Scottish Hydro Electric National League Division 2 campaign.
On Saturday, he was forced to cope with a series of mishaps which would have tested the equanimity of a Buddhist sage.
Already missing a handful of regulars, the Greens had no recognised scrum-half and included Wick duo Colin Smith and John Miller, who had not seen action since their schooldays.
The problems deepened when veteran winger Graeme Ross was ruled out when he tweaked a hamstring in the warm-up.
They got worse 15 minutes into the game on the well turned-out Glenburgh pitch when stand-in scrum-half Richard Mackay was forced off with an elbow injury.
He was soon joined on the sidelines by prop Dave Lewis-Saunders, who suffered a blow to his head.
In the subsequent major reshuffle, Kris Gove took over the number nine role and flanker Danny Gordon switched to the wing while Smith and Miller made an earlier-than-expected acquaintance with the senior game.
The changes also emptied the Greens’ bench.
By then, Grangemouth had already forged fourteen points ahead in what was the first competitive tussle between the sides.
After a series of phases, they took the lead on nine minutes when winger Craig Gibb was given space to scoot behind the posts.
Within a couple of minutes, home skipper Davie McFarlane made the killer yards in the prelude to a try for full-back Murray Forbes, who kicked both conversions.
Caithness were holding their own in the scrum and acquitting themselves well in the line-out but their lack of a specialist scrum-half inevitably hobbled their efforts.
A spell of pressure did force a penalty which Blair McIntosh duly potted to reduce the deficit.
Forbes and McIntosh exchanged penalties before Grangemouth – recently rebranded the Stags – crucially ran in a third try five minutes from half-time.
After winning possession from a Caithness 22 drop-out, centre Caine McIntryre set up Gibb for his second try, which Forbes improved.
The Greens enjoyed their best spell in the third quarter when Grangemouth struggled to contain some powerful play by the visiting pack.
Well-marshalled drives and pick-and-goes regularly made good ground but too often the momentum was broken by slow delivery of the ball and poor execution by the backs.
The Greens flagged in the last 10 minutes with their effort further hamstrung by skipper Ewen Boyd’s sin-binning.
Grangemouth took full advantage to run in two further tries by half-backs Davy Wilson and Mike Gowdy.
Forbes kept up his 100% kicking record to come away with a personal haul of 18 points.
Coach MacMillan was philosophical in defeat, acknowledging the challenge faced by a side having to adopt to so many changes.
“Without a scrum-half, we were always going to struggle big time.
“The changes we were forced to make early on because of the injuries also didn’t help and meant we could not make any replacements later on.”
At the start of the season, Grangemouth had been on the coach’s hit list of winnable venues.
“They are not a great team and one we would have expected to beat with a full squad,” he reflected.
“We tried to keep it tight in the forwards as every time the ball came back to Blair, he was put under a lot pressure.
“We struggled to clear the ball from the base of the scrums and line-outs.
“Just about every time it went out to our backs, there was a breakdown and we lost possession.”
The coach singled out McIntosh and full-back Gary Mackay for praise in how they played in very difficult conditions.
He was also impressed by the displays of Smith and Miller, who last played over five years ago in the Caithness junior ranks.
“They both look like being useful additions and I hope they will stick with us.”
Tomorrow, Caithness return to Millbank for the first time this season after the pitch underwent major drainage works.
They face the strong-going Forrester, who on Saturday pipped Highland 6-5 in Edinburgh.
McIntosh is unavailable while Ross and Mackay join the club’s fast-growing injury list.
Scrum-half Kris Hamilton will be welcomed back with open arms while utility back Graham Fryer and front rower Sinclair Dunnett should also both be back for the game that kicks off at 3 p.m.
Grangemouth – M. Forbes, C. Gibb, T. Hayes, C. McIntyre, B. Tucker, M. Gowdy, D. Wilson, M. Stirling, B. Tulloch, B. Johnstone, G. Curran, S. Binnie, D. McFarlane (cpt), C. Gillanders, R. Innes. Replacements -- D. Rawling, C. Taylor and D. Busby (all used).
Caithness: G. Mackay, James ‘Pigeon’ Sinclair, James ‘Pop’ Sinclair, J. Paterson, K. Gove, B. McIntosh, R. Mackay, D. Lewis-Saunders, S. Duval, R. Pottinger, E. Boyd (cpt.), A. Morris, G. Anderson, E. Sutherland, D. Gordon. Replacements – C. Smith and J. Miller (both used). G. Ross (unused).
The good news for Caithness on Saturday was all of the three sides below them drew a blank.
Bottom-placed Stewartry went down 27-18 at home to Stewartry while Glasgow Accies lost 24-11 at Newton Stewart.
Allan Glens meanwhile were drubbed 55-5 by league leaders Howe of Fife.
In the other match, Kilmarnock’s strong run continued as they jumped above Highland into third spot with a 20-18 win at Linlithgow.
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| 1st XV Season (2010/11) |
| Caithness 25 - 27 Kilmarnock |
| 4th Sep 10 - KO: 15:00 |
| Venue: Millbank |
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| 1st XV Season (2010/11) |
| Stewartry vs Caithness |
| 11th Sep 10 - KO: 15:00 |
| Venue: Greenlaw |
| :: More Fixtures |
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