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| GREENS TARGET FOUR WINS ON THE SPIN by Iain Grant |
| Fri 25th Sep 2009 |
The Greens were on Saturday fully stretched to get the better of a streetwise and hard-hitting Accies side.
Having now lost three of their first four matches, the city side sit fourth bottom of Scottish Hydro National League Division 2. But they are tipped to soon start climbing and it would be no major shock were they to inflict a first defeat on unbeaten pacemakers Greenock Wanderers at New Anniesland tomorrow.
Caithness meantime prepare to go head-to-head with Highland at Millbank chasing a fourth victory on the spin.
Saturday’s game was a tough one to sum up as, while good value for their win, they were never comfortable.
An astonishing interception run-in from the halfway-line by prop Roddy Gray added to Evan Sutherland’s more prosaic effort just after the interval. That whetted the appetites of the Caithness camp and entertained hopes of a four-try winning bonus point.
But during several subsequent persistent dangerous sorties by Accies, the second try came more to the fore for the insurance value it afforded the home outfit.
The first half was tied 3-3 with the dearth of points due in large part to some uncompromising and disciplined defending. Big hits on both sides -- in close-quarters exchanges in the forwards and in open-country levellings in the backs -- were the order of the day.
The level of attrition meant space was at a premium in the respective midfields with the four wingers given few opportunities to show their pace. Kick-and-chase was a popular option with the respective back threes kept busy scurrying back to retrieve and clear their lines or launch the occasional long-range counter.
The visiting forwards were adept at counter-rucking and, in the first half in particular, excelled at slowing down their opponents’ recycling of the ball at the breakdown.
Accies spurned a chance to take an early lead when Graeme Simpson sliced an early penalty opportunity.
Simpson was on target with a shot in the last action before the interval.
That equalised a penalty potted by Gary Mackay six minutes earlier when Accies had a clutch of lazy runners after the defence had been fractured by cracking breaks from James Paterson and Grant Anderson.
Blair McIntosh, an inside centre to trade, is making a decent fist of filling the problematic number 10 jersey. He used the blustery breeze on his back to win good field position in the third quarter when both tries were scored.
An attacking five yard lineout was the platform for the first with Stevie Campbell making the initial thrust behind enemy lines. A quick feed from Kris Hamilton sent Sutherland powering through a small gap to the line.
The second came when an attempted kick-through by visiting stand-off Jamie Doig was pouched by Gray near the restart point on the centre-line. The loose-head had the advantage of a couple of yards start as well as the surprise factor but few, if any, in the ground expected him to make the line without a hand being laid on him.
He motored over and, if anything, was going away from the chase from the 22 onwards to go under the posts and allow Mackay to land his second conversion of the day.
With 25 minutes remaining, getting the bonus point did not look out of the question.
They were denied a third by a piece of chicanery after James Sinclair led a break-out from the home 22. He fed Hamilton whose chip opened a free passage to the line albeit still from his own half.
The scrum-half was cynically body-checked which earned Doig 10 minutes in the sin-bin.
Before and after the incident, Accies enjoyed a couple of multi-phase forays and strong surges from their ever-dangerous centre Stewart Smith which had the Greens furiously defending their line. The last in a series of penalties against them ended with Paterson being yellow-carded for a ruck offence.
Caithness coach Colin Sangster was left frustrated by his side’s low-key finish to the game.
He said: “It really depends on the ambition the players have. If they want to be challenging at the top of the table, they have to realise that they need to close in on bonus points.”
The coach was happy enough with a first half performance against a strong wind.
He said: “We didn’t play brilliantly but we defended well and after we got the two tries early in the second half, I thought we could go on to get the bonus point.
“They had some big, heavy boys and I thought they would run out of steam but we lost our shape and they actually finished the game very strongly.”
Sangster identified the contact area as his side’s collective Achilles heel and one he is looking to see addressed in tomorrow’s match.
Highland, who beat Newton Stewart 16-10 in Inverness on Saturday, go into the clash with a record of two wins, a draw and a defeat.
Paterson and Sinclair are unavailable, as is Campbell, with the latter’s work commitments meaning he will only be able to play one every two games for the forseeable future.
Graham Fryer and Norman Foubister are set to reclaim starting spots in the back division while front fiver Hamish Coghill is a fitness doubt.
Caithness – G. Mackay, D. Gordon, J. Paterson, J. Sinclair, G. MacLeod, B. McIntosh, K. Hamilton, J. Foubister, S. Dunnett, R. Gray, A. Morris (cpt), H. Coghill, G. Anderson, E. Sutherland, S. Campbell. Replacement (all used) – T. Sutherland, B. More and G. Fryer.
Glasgow Accies – B. Bell, C. Wright, S. Smith, D. Horner, D. Horne, J. Doig (cpt), A. Wilson, D. Calder, A. Howie, F. Marchetti, S. Begley, F. Cameron, J. Walker, S. Thorburn, G. Simpson. Replacements (all used) – C. McAlpine, R. Bryant and J. Lindsay.
Referee – Mr S. Reynolds, Elgin.
* Greenock Wanderers continued their unbeaten start with a runaway 60-8 win at Cambuslang.
Lasswade meanwhile thumped Waysiders / Drumpellier 48-0 and Preston Lodge posted their first win – 28-10 away to Stewartry. The closest encounter was at Kilmarnock where the Ayrshire men scraped home 13- 9 versus Hawick YM.
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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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