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| GREENS 'WIN UGLY' IN HIGHSCORING ENCOUNTER by Iain Grant |
| Fri 3rd Oct 2008 |
Caithness 40 - 33 Hillfoots
Five more-than-welcome points pocketed by the Greens from this high-scoring encounter could not mask a team display which ranks among the worst seen at Millbank in recent seasons.
That they managed to prise a victory from a stuttering, dislocated performance was down to desultory flashes of individual virtuosity -- mainly in broken play -- which led to breakaway scores.
It is not churlish to pigeonhole the success in the Winning Ugly pigeon-hole though that does a disservice to the quality of most of their tries which were right out of the top drawer.
The match was undoubtedly a nerve-tingler with the lead changing four times and Caithness completing an unlikely comeback after going into the final quarter 30-19 behind.
They did display commendable grit in this period but overall it was a dismal performance which lacked cohesion and any semblance of a game-plan.
Caithness throughout were unable to impose any real authority on the contest, failing until the latter stages to string more than a couple of phases together without losing possession.
Their regular failures at the setpiece – losing their first scrum and their first line-out on their own ball setting the trend – did not help. But too often they coughed up possession through handling errors and players running down blind alleys while missed touch finds, aimless kicking from hand and a high penalty count at the breakdown also contributed.
There was also a worrying fragility in defence with the Greens notching up an uncharacteristically high missed tackle count.
Hillfoots dominated the possession and territory stakes and at the end were understandably inconsolate after going down to a fifth straight Scottish Hydro Electric National League Division 2 defeat.
On another corker of a day at Millbank, the visitors were quickly in offensive mode. They tested the home defence down both flanks in a flurry which ended with a potential scoring move near the posts being recalled for a forward pass.
Caithness broke out of their own half thanks to a storming midfield break from Danny Gordon, who was to end the day with four tries to his name.
The Greens struck on six minutes when a long-range attack down the right side instigated by Kris Hamilton was carried on by stand-in skipper Stevie Campbell.
Hooker Sinclair Dunnett was the key link after a quickly recycled ruck to allow Gordon to cross near the posts. Gary Mackay added the extra points.
The Greens were quickly ensconced in their own half, where they were to spend just about the whole of the first half.
Hillfoots were nicely mixing up their game, their attritional front five making good yardage with close-up drives and pick-and-goes and their half-backs switching play wide when they sniffed the hint of an overlap. They looked good value for a try with the Greens having to be on their mettle to resist a series of close-in rumbles.
Craig Scott looked to have got over but a last-ditch lunging tackle from Greens prop Donald Buchanan sent the visiting blindside into touch-in-goal. Another rapier-like counter against the run of play brought Gordon his second try on 15 minutes when he seized on a loose ball and outstripped the cover to touch down near the left corner-flag.
Hillfoots resumed control with their first score on 24 minutes stemming from pressure they applied on enemy possession from a ruck in the Caithness 22.
Fly-half Gary Mackay was not helped by a lack of fringe defence at the breakdown as the ball came back to him with two opponents in close attendance. Scott got his hands to Mackay’s attempted clearance and regathered to send Calum McGee in unopposed for a try, converted by skipper Andy Hamilton.
Hillfoots now had the scent of blood as they pressed forward in search of further reward.
Hamilton missed the conversion and an eminently kickable penalty before partly redeeming himself with a snap drop-goal.
The fly-half was to stamp his authority on the game for the next half-hour with a marvellous all-round display which turned the game decidedly his side’s way. Seven minutes from the interval, a scrum against the head gave him the opportunity to set off on a run in which he first dummied and then jinked his way through the Caithness midfield before outflanking the cover to cross at the tennis court end.
Hillfoots passed up several chances to extend their 15-12 lead before they were stunned to fall behind with the last play before the interval.
In the pick of the day’s 10 tries, Hamilton chose to break from a scrum wide out in his own 22. He breached the close-up defence on his audacious breach down the blindside and defied successive pursuers on a scamper for the line which he reached despite a desperate smother tackle by full-back Ian Nicolson.
Mackay landed the conversion to give his side a thoroughly undeserved 19-15 interval advantage.
Suitably stung, the Tillicoutry men quickly set about applying restorative justice. They applied a clam-like grip of the game after the resumption, marking their dominance by shoving the opposition eight off their own scrum ball twice in succession.
Five minutes in, they regained the lead after Hamilton’s vision and execution saw his carefully-weighted cross-kick fielded and touched down by left winger Ken McVey.
On 52 minutes, visiting scrum-half Ewan Jamieson fed Hamilton who scythed a diagonal through a disorganised defence to cross despite a valiant cover tackle by Kris Hamilton. The stand-off He added the conversion and a penalty to put his troops 30-19 in front.
The home comeback was partly helped by the off-field decision to radically reshuffle the backs with replacement centre William Mill moving to scrum-half and Hamilton taking over the fly-half duties from Mackay, who moved back to full-back. The changes inspired the Greens to achieve a continuity and co-ordination to their possession which had hitherto been beyond them.
A stirring multi-phase attack produced a converted try to put them in striking distance. Buchanan was prominent in setting the attacking platform after which Mill twice probed for the line before the ball was spread to Hamilton with Campbell giving Gordon a free run to the line for a converted try.
Hillfoots were now struggling to cope with the re-energised Greens and on 69 minutes it was no surprise when the latter retook the lead.
A well-worked move overstretched the visiting defence on the right flank though Hamilton’s pass to Kris Gove still giving the young full-back plenty of work to do before touching down wide out. Mackay’s difficult conversion stretched the lead to 33-30.
Hillfoots centre Steve Scott’s sin-binning five minutes from time for a piece of indiscipline ended his involvement. His side’s demise was confirmed two minutes later with Gordon’s fourth try.
It was created by a line break from Mill which almost put replacement Mike Flavell in. He was stopped just short but Hillfoots were short-handed as the ball was shipped right for Gordon to cross unopposed. Mackay added the conversion.
Andy Hamilton’s injury-time penalty boosted his points haul to 23 and won his side a losing bonus point to add to the point they secured for scoring four tries.
It was a poor return for their efforts and leaves them second bottom and facing a fight to head off what would be a second successive demotion.
Greens coach Jim MacMillan acknowledged the failings of his side but was just happy to extend his side’s unbeaten league run at Millbank to three matches.
“We’re happy with the five points which was our target but I hope we don’t come to rue giving them a second bonus point at the end", he said. “It was great to score all these tries but the defence was at times shocking with our one-on-one tackling leaving a lot to be desired.
“The game must have been really exciting for the crowd but it was tough to watch for us on the sidelines.” The coach admitted it was a poor team display with the absence of several seasoned campaigners leaving the side rudderless in many areas.
MacMillan believed the changes, featuring Mill’s shift to scrum-half, had the desired effect of giving the side more direction in the final quarter.
Skipper Ewen Boyd and John Foubister are set to return to add experience to the forwards for the Greens’ trip to Edinburgh to face Forrester tomorrow. Aberdeen-based lock forward James Hamilton could also figure though Danny Budge is back offshore.
Gove also misses out as he is on a Wick High trip to Poland through Graham Fryer is available and could start at scrum-half. Blair McIntosh faces a late fitness test on a thigh injury which has caused him to miss the last three matches.
Number eight Evan Sutherland needed stitches for a nasty gash around an eye he sustained on Saturday. He gamely finished the game and expects to be fit to travel to the capital.
MacMillan accepts that the side will have to start picking up points on the hoof if they are to keep out of relegation trouble.
“We need to be winning points away from home and at the start of the season, we targeted Forrester as one where we would have a 50/50 chance with a strong squad", he said. “The problem has been that we’ve been travelling with threadbare squads which you really can’t expect much from.”
Caithness – K. Gove, K. Foubister, D. Gordon, J. Sinclair, G. Macleod, G. Mackay, K. Hamilton, D. Lewis Saunders, S. Dunnett, D. Buchanan, H. Coghill, D. Budge G. Anderson, E. Sutherland, S. Campbell (cpt) Replacements -- (all used) – C. MacLeod, M. Flavell and W. Mill.
Hillfoots – I. Nicolson, K. Aitken, C. McGee, S. Scott, K. McVey, A. Hamilton (cpt), E. Jamieson, C. Hamilton, I. Kelly, K. Slade, D. Cree, A. Allan, C. Scott, M. Killbank, M. Slade. Replacements (both unused) -- B. Ireland and J. Doyle.
Ref – Mr A. MacLean.
* Forrester on Saturday went down 24-0 away to league leaders Whitecraigs. The only other unbeaten side is Hawick YM whose 25-12 win over Linlithgow was the latter’s first defeat of the season.
Glasgow Accies went second with a 30-22 win at home over Stewartry while Highland were beaten 36-3 at Kilmarnock.
In the other match, Newton Stewart remain point-less after going down 18-0 at home to Greenock Wanderers.
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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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