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| GREENOCK WANDERERS 52 - 7 CAITHNESS |
| Fri 6th Nov 2009 |
The Greens’ TV debut on Saturday developed into something of a video nasty as they sustained their heaviest defeat of the season.
In front of the scottishrugbytv.com internet-streamed cameras, they were outmanoeuvred, outplayed and outwitted by a Wanderers side, who are the clear stand-out side of Scottish Hydro’s National League Division 2.
It was not a case of Caithness being stage-struck on their second foray to Fort Matilda. The combination of an under-strength, under-performing visiting side pitched against the high-rolling league leaders was always going to end in tears.
And yet, the final margin of victory did not look on the cards in the opening quarter when the hosts failed to pierce a committed defence. Cracks however appeared with Kris Hamilton’s smother tackle preventing home lock Matt Gray grounding after a fine break from Wanderers’ sparky centre Kieran Smith.
The Greens scrum-half was soon on S.O.S. duty again, this time bundling Leigh Tylie into touch near the left touch-flag.
The opening try after 26 minutes stemmed from a driven maul after a five metre lineout take. Replacement Ali Shearer emerged from the bottom of the scrimmage to claim the score.
The Greens were to ship three more tries before the break as Greenock’s slick A-game clicked into gear. A coruscating break by Tylie was stopped short but Gray was able to gather and force his way over.
Greenock’s next two were the result of rampaging, long-range attacks from sloppy kick-aheads. Both were finished off under the posts by Smith, allowing full-back Kevin Murray to bag his third conversion of the day.
Minutes after the interval, Smith finished off another impressive backs’ move.
Caithness got some respite with a spell of pressure yielding a penalty which Gary Mackay sent across the posts.
Greenock hit the 40 mark when a sweet handling sequence created the space for Smith to breeze through for his third try.
Smith crossed again before he set up Watson to score after a turnover in the Greens 22.
Six minutes from time, the visitors got a smidgeon of consolation when Hamilton gathered a kick and got the break of the ball following his chip-through to cross. It was the first try conceded by Greenock at home this season. Mackay landed the conversion from wide out.
The final score fell to the hosts with Devlin releasing Tylie on an unopposed run to the line.
With Devlin having goaled three of the second half touchdowns, that pushed Greenock beyond the half-century mark.
The manner of the defeat was hard to stomach for Greens coach Colin Sangster.
He said: “We did well to keep them out for as long as we did though we rode our luck a bit early on. Once they scored their first, they went on to secure the try bonus by half-time.”
He was full of praise for opponents he views as champions-elect.
“They are a good team with no real weaknesses,” Sangster said. “They are fit and committed and after the first half-hour, executed things very well. They identified where our weaknesses were and attacked them accordingly.”
Sangster did not fault his under-strength side for effort but said their cause was fatally holed by a general lack of fitness and poor defensive lines.
The coach singled out Hamilton for his unstinting work about the park which featured some heroic cover tackles.
The side has to regroup for tomorrow’s visit to Millbank by Waysiders/Drumpellier. After a low-key start to their campaign, the Coatbridge-based outfit have won three matches on the bounce to move away from the relegation zone.
The Greens will again be well short of full strength for the match, which kicks off at 1 p.m.
Centre David McCarthy is back offshore and is likely to be replaced by the evergreen William Mill.
David Pottinger and Sinclair Dunnett also return and could well claim starting jerseys.
Greenock Wanderers – D. Watson, G.Fletcher, L Tylie, K.Smith, S.Connelly, K.Murray, A. McDougall, J.McArthur, A.McMichael, M.Lavelle, M.Gray, M.Duncan, A.Love, C.Robb, C.Clark.
Replacements (all used) -- A.Shearer, R.Lavelle, A.Devlin
Caithness – G. Mackay, Y. Coghill, D. McCarthy, G. Fryer, G. Macleod, B McIntosh, K. Hamilton, C. Smith, B. More, T. Sutherland, J. Miller, A. Morris (cpt), M. Duffy, A. Sangster, E. Sutherland. Replacements (all used) – J. Foubister, H. Coghill and M. Nicolson.
Ref – Mr F. Clark.
* Waysiders on Saturday prevailed 18-9 at home to Newtown Stewart.
Elsewhere, Lasswade bounced back from their loss to Highland the previous week by running amok at home to Stewartry.
They ran in 19 tries to post a 98-3 victory to move six points clear in second.
Glasgow Accies’ surge up the table continued with a 36-23 home success over Kilmarnock.
That puts them third, leapfrogging Highland after the Inverness side slumped to a 12-5 defeat at Cambuslang.
Hawick YM meanwhile stemmed a losing streak with a 41-6 home defeat of Preston Lodge.
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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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