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| PRESSURE FROM GREENS IS NOT CONVERTED INTO POINTS by Iain Grant |
| Fri 19th Feb 2010 |
A continuing failure to turn pressure into points is accelerating the Greens’ slide down the Scottish Hydro Electric National Division 2 table.
It cost them again on Saturday when they drew their first blank of the season to go under to north rivals Highland at Canal Park.
Highland’s victory in a scrappy, error-ridden encounter allowed them to leapfrog their opponents into fifth spot.
Their impressive early season form which allowed them to flirt with the prospect of promotion is now a distant memory after a dismal run which has harvested just five points from their last five league outings. More worrying for the coaching team is their paltry strike rate which has seen their three matches since the turn of the year produce a solitary try.
While their points total should almost certainly be good enough to keep them up, they require eight more to be mathematically safe.
Both sides on Saturday enjoyed prolonged spells embedded in opposition territory though the hosts would have been comfortably ahead in the possession stakes.
A key moment when the visitors’ cause was undone came towards the end of a second quarter when they had their tails up.
Failure to exploit a clear overlap allowed Highland to go into the interval leading by a converted early touchdown from South African centre Tristian Duprez.
Caithness again faded in the latter stages when the Inverness men scored a disputed second and botched a glaring opportunity to extend their advantage.
The early exchanges were scarred by handling errors and a failure of both sides to retain the ball in contact.
A ruck offence by Caithness presented a third minute opportunity for home full-back Craig Irvine to open his side’s account.
Ironically, the award almost led to a score at the other end of the park.
After the kick pinged back off the right upright, Greens skipper Andy Morris fielded before sparking a long-range counter which almost put pacy centre James Paterson in the clear.
Irvine hooked another penalty wide before his side drew in front with an 11th minute try.
Caithness had possession at a ruck just outside their own 22 when the ball squirted out the side.
Highland were first to react and a three-quarters move against a broken-line defence saw the ball transferred via Irvine to Fijian centre Joe Taroga who put Duprez clear.
After absorbing a fair amount of pressure, the tide slowly turned and Highland found themselves increasingly on the back foot as the half wore on.
The Greens’ first incisive attack on 25 minutes gave space for wing Gordie Macleod to make good headway up the right touchline.
The move, supported by Evan Sutherland and John Miller, took play to the Highland five metre line.
A subsequent line-break from Sutherland, carried on by Paterson, forced a kickable penalty, which fly-half Liam Brims pushed wide of the posts.
Irvine was then off-target at the other end and his side missed a golden chance for a second try when Taroga – a constant threat in midfield – jinked clear but flunked his pass to the unmarked Irvine.
The Greens resumed control for the closing five minutes of the half when they passed up a glorious opportunity to get on terms.
Quickly recycled ball and quick hands by prop Tommy Sutherland worked the ball on to Blair McIntosh whose pass to Paterson created a clear two-on-one in the left corner.
Paterson fed left winger Mark Anderson who crucially cut in and allowed the last defender to scrag him before he could get the ball down.
Highland were quickly out the blocks on the resumption with Irvine adding to his earlier conversion with a 43rd minute penalty after Caithness strayed offside at a ruck.
The third quarter was dominated by scrums, betraying a high error count by both sides.
Caithness failed to come away with any reward for a prolonged spell in the enemy 22 with scrum-half Graham Fryer coming closest to crossing with a quickly taken tap penalty.
Highland went close when winger Drew Buxton was bundled into touch near the left corner-flag.
Caithness were almost given a lifeline five minutes from time when replacement Christopher Simpson got hands to an opposition pass but was unable to hold on for what would could have been a run-in.
Two minutes from time, Highland sealed victory when fly-half Richard Sim followed up his chip-through after it was gathered by Simpson.
The teenage flanker appeared to be floored with a high, dangerous challenge from Sim, which went unpunished by ref Steven Reynolds.
Sim was able to scoop up the loose ball and canter in at the posts, to allow Irvine to convert.
Hill was given an unobstructed passage to the line in injury-time only for the winger to guddle what should have been a scoring pass.
Caithness coach Eann McIntosh, standing in for the unavailable Colin Sangster, afterwards rued the scoring opportunities his sides passed up.
He said: “Overall, I thought it was quite an even game and we deserved a bit more from the game than we got.
“We were camped on their line quite a few times but just couldn’t execute the final move to get the score. The guys gave 100% and you have to remember that we’re persevering with a few young guys for whom this is great experience.”
Highland – C. Irvine, D. Buxton, G. Duprez, J. Taroga, A. Hill, R. Sim, G. High, N. Walker (cpt), K. Brown, S. Murray, C. Adam, K. Cameron, R. Thompson, M. Thompson, A. Findlater. Replacements (all used) – P. Weir, S. Stephen and I. Dunbar.
Caithness – G. Mackay, M. Anderson, B. McIntosh, J. Paterson, G. Macleod, L. Brims, G. Fryer, S. Dunnett, H. Coghill, T. Sutherland, J. Miller, R. Gray, A. Morris (cpt), A. Sangster, E. Sutherland. Replacements (all used) – B. More, J. Foubister and C. Simpson.
Ref – Mr S. Reynolds, Elgin.
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