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| GREENS FAIL TO TAKE THE ADVANTAGE by Iain Grant |
| Fri 14th Nov 2008 |
Caithness 11, Hawick YM 27
THE Greens face their most crucial match of the season on Sunday when they lock horns with Stewartry.
A win in the rearranged clash is vital if the Greens are not to be sucked into the drop zone of the Scottish Hydro Electric National League Division 2.
With three of the four sides below them in the league all picking up points on Saturday, the pressure is on Jim MacMillan's troops to end a four-match losing streak.
In Saturday, it was all hands to the deck as the Greens sought to fill the holes left by half a dozen regulars who were on spectator duty at Murrayfield.
That gave starting berths to veteran duo Dougie Wright and Mike Flavell and a season's debut to Norman Foubister.
Hawick YM were quickly on the offensive and scrum-half Josh Farmer's lightning break from a penalty would have opened the scoring had it not been for a try-saving tackle by opposite number William Mill.
Two forward passes undid promising moves by the visitors as they exploited early defensive frailties which inevitably resulted from the number of enforced personnel changes in key areas.
Helped by yard-guzzling line breaks from Stuart Grant and James Sinclair, and a succession of turnovers at breakdowns, the Greens gradually gained a foothold on the game.
The visiting Redskins did not help their cause by the number of penalties they conceded with hooker Alan Douglas's persistence marked by a yellow card.
The Greens took advantage of their man advantage when a series of close-in surges ended with Mill muscling his way over after 17 minutes. Wright was unable to add the extras.
Hawick opened their account four minutes later when skipper Dean McCracken potted a penalty for a ruck offence.
It settled into an even contest until the closing 10 minutes of the half when the Borderers established what proved to be a match-winning advantage.
Quick ball from a line-out on 31 minutes saw McCracken's flat pass set off centre Lee Armstrong on an unopposed arcing break to the line.
Greens number eight Evan Sutherland then tracked back well to touch down behind his own line when opponent Ross Gibson looked favourite to get on the end of a grubber kick.
The visitors, however, forged further ahead on 34 minutes when Gibson crossed after collecting winger Mark Young's blatantly forward pass. McCracken converted both tries and added a penalty to put his side 20-5 in front at the interval.
Caithness showed up well after the interval when they had several long spells in the opposition 22 which almost yielded tries.
Wright kicked two penalties while home winger Gordie Macleod, who featured with several bone-juddering tackles, almost went in from an interception.
The momentum was broken on the hour-mark when Mill was yellow-carded after his side paid the penalty for persistent offending at the breakdown.
Armstrong almost made it a double whammy with a burst down the touchline which was stopped by a fine cover tackle from Sinclair.
Four minutes from time, ref George Whitecross marred Keith Foubister's 30th birthday with a yellow card for holding on after the tackle.
The game was petering out when the Redskins scored their third try of the afternoon in the final minute.
In an audacious break from their 22, Armstrong set Hamish Neish romping down the left flank.
Sinclair nailed the winger but the latter's offload as he went to ground gave lock forward Jamie Tinlin a free run to the line. McCracken's conversion sealed the Greens' second successive home reverse.
Coach Jim MacMillan said: "We felt we could have got something out of the game but we were shown up a bit in our defence wide-out.
"When we kept it tight in the first 20 minutes we looked okay but as soon as they spread it wide, we were struggling a bit.
"We perhaps weren't inventive enough in attack when we failed to take advantage of several good try-scoring opportunities."
The coach praised the players who came in to cover for the Murrayfield-bound absentees.
He is targeting a win on Sunday against the side immediately below his.
"It's crucial that we beat Stewartry," he said. "It will be tough but I'm confident we should have a pretty strong squad for the game."
Kris Hamilton, Gary Mackay, Danny Gordon, Grant Anderson and Kris Gove are back in the frame while Blair McIntosh should be fit.
Hamilton is set to revert to stand-off to partner Graham Fryer, who is back after a spell offshore.
The game at Millbank has a noon kick-off.
Caithness: S. Grant, G. Macleod, N. Foubister, J. Sinclair, K. Foubister, D. Wright, W. Mill, J. Foubister, S. Dunnett, D. Buchanan, E. Boyd (cpt), C. MacLeod, M. Flavell, E. Sutherland, S. Campbell. Replacement used: H. Pottinger. Unused: S. Foubister and J. MacMillan.
Hawick YM: G. Renwick, M. Young, S. MacLeod, L. Armstrong, H. Neish, D. McCracken (cpt), J. Farmer, B. Lilly, A. Douglas, J. Cumming, B. Hill, J. Tinlin, R. Halliday, R. Gibson, C. Rodgerson. Replacement used: B. McGinn. Unused: S. Carruthers and D. Waldie.
Ref – Mr G. Whitecross.
The big shock on Saturday was the reverse sustained by league leaders Whitecraigs at the home of Newton Stewart.
Newton Stewart, who lost their opening nine games, showed they cannot be written off after their battling 8-5 win over the Glasgow side.
Linlithgow stay second after getting home 18-14 versus Highland in Inverness.
Glasgow Accies' promotion hopes took a potentially terminal knock after they went down 10-6 in Kilmarnock.
Greenock Wanderers kept up their impressive home record with a 49-15 eclipse of Stewartry while Hillfoots and Forrester drew 9-9.
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| Hawick YM |
2 |
10 |
| Kilmarnock |
2 |
9 |
| Waysiders Drumpellier |
2 |
9 |
| Glasgow Accies |
2 |
7 |
| Berwick |
2 |
6 |
| Annan |
2 |
5 |
| Highland |
2 |
5 |
| Aberdeenshire |
2 |
4 |
| Stewartry |
2 |
4 |
| Caithness |
2 |
3 |
| Newton Stewart |
2 |
1 |
| Alan Glens |
2 |
0 |
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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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