|
|
 |
| HAMILTON SECURES WIN WITH LATE TRY |
| Fri 13th Nov 2009 |
Saturday's hard-wrought, if undistinguished, victory for the Greens keeps their place in the top half of the Scottish Hydro's National League Division 2.
After the first half of the campaign, predictions can be foolhardy, but a realistic target could be to beat last season's seventh place.
Barring a dramatic collapse, they should stay well clear of the relegation dogfight and it is unlikely they are going to do more than flirt with the promotion race.
Caithness were only assured of a win in their first clash with Waysiders when scrum half Kris Hamilton dashed over for his and his side’s second try in the final minute.
They had previously clung uncomfortably for the entire second half to a five-point winning margin.
Their display was disfigured by a lack of discipline which regularly cut short highly promising attacks and resulted in them being at the wrong end of a mind-numbing penalty count.
Ref Steve Reynolds’ interpretation of the breakdown didn’t help the game flow but the Greens did their cause no favours by regularly going off their feet when joining rucks and indulging in petulant backchat.
The Coatbridge visitors impressed in the opening 10 minutes with an attractive running game which should have harvested points.
Scrum half Chris McGuigan lost possession within reach of the line and fullback Neil Logue then botched an overlap when he went solo instead of unloading to unmarked left winger Greig Walker.
A turnover triggered another penetrative Waysiders attack with Logue cut down a few yards short by opposite number Gary Mackay.
Almost inevitably, the Greens scored with their first foray when Mackay spliced the posts with an 11th minute penalty. Caithness resumed control for the restart and forged further ahead five minutes later following a well-worked blindside attack.
Hamilton looped number eight Evan Sutherland before probing the undefended channel wide out left on the Mount Vernon end.
Mackay added the extras to make it 10-0.
The home side were looking dangerous with ball on hand but too often lack of support left runners isolated and resulted in either turnovers or penalties.
The latter was the fate of a multi-pass sequence which gave right winger Scott Foubister a charge for the line.
The Caithness momentum was checked by the sin-binning of lock-forward John Miller on 22 minutes for shoeing an opponent who was holding on at the bottom of a ruck.
Waysiders took advantage of his absence to gain a decisive edge in the scrums and score eight unopposed points.
John Shaw landed a penalty before replacement prop Mick Gloagly ploughed over from close range after a series of forward breenges. Shaw’s conversion faded past the near post.
After Caithness were restored to full strength, they were awarded a 32nd minute penalty for a high tackle which Mackay converted into three points.
The 13-8 half-time lead for the Greens survived an early long-range penalty attempt form Shaw which drifted just wide.
Neither side distinguished themselves in an error-strewn second period when the Greens increasing fell foul of Mr Reynolds.
After their early fireworks, Waysiders try-scoring threat fizzled out with their opponents possessing the most dangerous strike runners.
Miller almost scored after charging down a try-line clearance kick while last-ditch tackles were needed to stop Hamilton and Sutherland finishing off long-range counters.
Foubister was unable to take a would-be scoring pass before Caithness finally crossed following a back row move off a scrum.
Hamilton took Sutherland’s pass to scoot in under the posts for a try converted by Mackay.
Caithness: G. Mackay, S. Foubister, G. Fryer, W. Mill, G. Macleod, B. MacIntosh, K. Hamilton, S. Dunnet, H. Coghill, J. Foubister, J. Miller, A. Morris (cpt), M. Duffy, E. Sutherland, D. Pottinger. Replacements, all used: B. More, C. Smith and M. Nicolson.
Waysiders: N. Logue, G. Ferguson, C. McCaffer, D. Milne, G. Walker, J. Shaw, C. McGuigan, N. Collins, N. McGuire, I. Grant, T. Rorstam, J. Leishman, M. Brown, S. Conroy, B. Harvey. Replacements, all used: M. Gloagly, M. McSane, W. Frame.
Referee: S. Reynolds.
Caithness coach Colin Sangster has some welcome selection headaches for tomorrow’s Scottish Hydro National League Division 2meeting with Hawick YM.
Injuries and work commitments have restricted his options in picking a team and squad in recent weeks.
“It’s often been a case of scraping a team together so it’s nice to have a bit of a choice,” he said.
“We had over 20 at training on Tuesday and the guys are looking forward to tomorrow’s match.”
The coach intends blooding a number of the county’s band of up-and-coming young guns in upcoming games.
He said: “I don’t think we’re going to get promoted and we should be safe from relegation so I’m looking to start to build a group of players who buy into what we’re doing so we can make areal push for promotion next year.
“If in the process, we lose a couple of games this season, then so be it.”
Flanker Stevie Campbell and prop Roddy Gray return tomorrow after a spell working away. Offshore duo James Sinclair and Norman Foubister are back though Graham Fryer is back for a stint on the rigs.
Prop Tommy Sutherland is back after a short visit to Canada.
The match at Millbank kicks off at 2 p.m.
* Elsewhere on Saturday, Greenock Wanderers made it 11 wins out of 11 though they were made to battle for their 17-5 win in Inverness versus Highland.
Lasswade’s promotion hopes took a knock when they were edged out 15-14 at Kilmarnock while Glasgow Accies stepped up their challenge with a 41-3 away win over Preston Lodge.
Pl are now bottom after Stewarty’s 44-19 victory over Cambuslang.
Hawick YM did not play on Saturday as their scheduled match at Newton Stewart fell victim to a waterlogged pitch.
|
| Back to News |
|
 |
|
|
|
| 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 |
|
 |
| 1st XV Season (2010/11) |
| Caithness 25 - 27 Kilmarnock |
| 4th Sep 10 - KO: 15:00 |
| Venue: Millbank |
 |
| 1st XV Season (2010/11) |
| Stewartry vs Caithness |
| 11th Sep 10 - KO: 15:00 |
| Venue: Greenlaw |
| :: More Fixtures |
|
