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| NEWTON STEWART 23 - 0 CAITHNESS by Iain Grant |
| Fri 28th Nov 2008 |
Only the performance of the Greens’ newly acquired minibus scored pass marks after the club’s marathon jaunt on Saturday.
A jaded-looking side drew a blank on the heavy, rain-soaked Bladnoch Park as they were eclipsed by a rejuvenated home outfit.
After losing their opening nine matches, Newton Stewart have won their last three and now look on course to maintain their record of never having suffered demotion.
That honour they share with Caithness, who are still several wins short of the breathing space they need to safeguard their place in Scottish Hydro Electric National League Division 2.
They once again travelled short-handed for the 750-plus mile trip to the far south-west – the longest involving NLD sides.
The 14 from the county were joined by exiles Andrew Sangster and Stuart Grant for the match, which kicked off the second half of the season.
Newton Stewart avenged their 27-10 opening day reverse in Thurso as their brand of forward power and midfield invention proved too much for the visitors.
Caithness defended well in a first half in which NS stand off Ewan MacCurdy’s three penalties separated the sides.
NS then took advantage of Caithness flanker Evan Sutherland’s yellow-carding just before the interval to score a try within minutes of the resumption.
Flanker Stevie Wright found an unguarded channel as he surged from the rear of a ruck and his angled run took him to the line without a hand being laid on him.
Fifteen minutes from the end, the home men scored a second try when centre Graham MacMillan was sent free wide out to score near the corner.
McCurdy converted both to end the day with a haul of 13 points.
Greens coach Jim MacMillan acknowledged his troops were on the back foot for most of the match.
He said: “We always expect a tough time from their forwards but on Saturday they moved the ball wide more than we expected.
“Their half-backs and inside centre were decent and caused us a few problems.”
MacMillan said Caithness had few attacking opportunities until the closing stages. “We were outplayed in almost every area of the park,” he bemoaned.
“We lost balls against the head in the scrum; we took 20 minutes to come to terms with their line-out; and struggled to get anything going in attack until the last 15 minutes. “We created a few opportunities then and, twice, would have scored had we kept the ball in hand instead of kicking possession away.”
The weary travellers did not get home until 2 a.m.
They now have to recharge their batteries to face the challenge of Kilmarnock at Millbank tomorrow.
Graham Fryer is back offshore but Sinclair Dunnett and Stevie Campbell are set to return and Kris Hamilton has shaken off an ankle knock he sustained on Saturday. The match kicks off at 2 p.m.
Caithness – G. Mackay, G. Macleod, B. McIntosh, S. Grant, K. Gove, K. Hamilton, G. Fryer, J. Foubister, H. Coghill, D. Buchanan, E. Boyd (cpt), G. Anderson, E. Sutherland, A. Sangster, D. Gordon. Replacement (used) – S. Foubister.
*It proved a black weekend for both Caithness and Highland.
Highland, who entertain their north rivals a week tomorrow, went down 21-0 at home to Glasgow Accies.
It is boiling down to a three-horse race for the two promotion spots with the three frontrunners all posting away wins on Saturday.
Leaders Whitecraigs bounced back from their shock reverse to Newton Stewart to prevail 25-10 at Kilmarnock.
Linlithgow stay second with an impressive 25-6 success at Greenock while Hawick YM kept in the hunt with a gritty 19-16 victory over struggling Forrester.
Hillfoots stay in trouble after going down 17-12 at home to Stewartry.
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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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