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| 'WE JUST MADE ONE MISTAKE AFTER ANOTHER' by Iain Grant |
| Fri 11th Dec 2009 |
Greens coach Colin Sangster had harsh words for his squad after they churned out a victory in an insipid, soul-less encounter on Saturday.
A disjointed, error-strewn display garnered them four more points in the Scottish Hydro National League Division 2 but it made for painful viewing. Newton Stewart also failed to raise their game out of the foothills while ref Fraser Anderson cannot escape blame for his over-tolerance of the visitors’ failure to obey the laws at the breakdown.
It was, in short, one of the most uninspiring tussles in the Greens’ National League career.
William Mill and Evan Sutherland’s tigerish work in the loose and teenager stand-off Liam Brims’ outstanding line-kicking were just about the only notable aspects of the home performance.
A woefully misfiring line-out and an erratic scrum combined with a mind-numbing number of handling errors to rob their game of any semblance of continuity.
Newton Stewart spent the opening 10 minutes pinned in their own 22 and conceding a succession of penalties – a feature which was to continue unchecked throughout the match.
A clever chip by Brims and super follow-up tackle from Graham Fryer produced the first opportunity for a kick at goal after full-back james Murray was pinged for not releasing.
Brims missed with this and a second chance soon afterwards but spliced the posts with a third on 11 minutes.
Newton Stewart's first foray into opposition territory saw stand-off Niall Armstrong’s sparky break come to naught for lack of support.
Caithness responded with a promising spell of pressure deep in opposition territory which they were unable to finish off.
Nerwton Stewart’s penalty tally continued to mount with Brims landing the second of four kicks for goal to double his side’s lead on 21 minutes.
The Greens finally got over the line two minutes from the interval when a surge from a close-in line-out saw Sutherland driven over. Brims converted to give a 13 point cushion.
Handling was made tricky by the swirling wind blowing towards the changing rooms but there was no excuse for the sheer volume of guddles and knock-ons from both sides.
The visitors got encouragement eight minutes after the interval when replacement Craig Murray forced his way through four would-be tackles to the line. Full-back Blair McIntosh’s all-encompassing smother failed to prevent the score. Niall Armstrong’s conversion attempt drifted wide.
Ref Anderson’s patience with Newton Stewart’s persistent offending at the breakdown finally wore out on 53 minutes with the sin-binning of flanker Jamie Telfer.
Brims’ place-kicking let him down on two further occasions before Caithness got a second try on 66 minutes. In keeping with the shapeless feel to the contest, it came from a pin-ball sequence following an attacking line-out five metres from the visitors’ line.
As Greens replacement Christopher Simpson traded punches with Newton Stewart skipper Graham Armstrong, the ball ended up in-goal to allow John Miller to dive to claim his first try for the club. Brims nailed the conversion to complete the scoring.
It did not end the shenanigans with Graham Armstrong being red-carded for a volley of abuse towards the ref after yet another rucking infringement.
Coach Sangster was plainly unhappy with how the game unfolded.
While in no way exonerating his side, he was unhappy with Mr Anderson’s over-indulgence of Newton Stewart’s misdemeanours.
“I reckon they were penalised about 35 times which, with the ball in play for about 50 minutes, means he’s given a penalty every one-and-half minutes.”
Sangster described his side’s line-out as ‘a complete shambles’ and was unhappy the scrum started to creak after a promising start.
He said: “We didn’t have a great platform to play off while and when the backs got decent possession, they promptly dropped the ball. There was next-to-no continuity as we just made one mistake after another.”
While it was a win, he said his side had spurned the chance to clock up 50 points.
Tomorrow, they head south to play Glasgow Accies, who have won eight out of their last nine outings to claim third place in the league.
Sangster said: “We’ll have to up our game big-time against Accies, It will be a tough game but we’ve done well against them down there in recent years.
“Their pitch is one of the best in Scotland and it’s a great place to play rugby.”
Flanker Stevie Campbell makes a welcome return though centre James Paterson is unavailable and winger David McCarthy is back offshore. Front rower Sinclair Dunnett returns though flanker David Pottinger is ruled out through injury.
Caithness – B. McIntosh, G. Mackay, J. Sinclair, G. Fryer, D. McCarthy, L. Brims, K. Hamilton, T. Sutherland, B. More, J. Foubister, A. Morris (cpt), J. Miller, W. Mill, E. Sutherland, A. Morris (cpt). Replacements (all used) – R. Gray, C. Simpson and G. Macleod.
Newton Stewart – J. Murray, James McWhirter, I. Wright, S. Cluckie, John McWhirter , N. Armstrong, G. Armstrong (cpt), M. Wallace, S. Kingston, S. Hamilton, S. Vance, S. Williams, J. Telfer, M. Adams, C. McNeill. Replacements (all used) – G. MacDonald, C. Murray and G. MacDonald.
Ref – Mr F. Anderson, Elgin.
* Glasgow Accies kept their promotion drive on track on Saturday with a 30-13 win at the home of city rivals Cambuslang.
Previously unbeaten leaders Greenock Wanderers finally slipped up, going down 15-13 away to second placed Lasswade.
Highland recovered after a bad spell to beat Preston Lodge 21-9 in Inverness while Kilmarnock edged out Waysiders /Drumpellier 17-12.
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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 |
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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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