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| HIGHLAND 20 - CAITHNESS 10 by Iain Grant |
| Wed 21st Dec 2005 |
Saturday’s trip to Inverness proved a dispiriting experience for the large visiting support whose hopes for a famous league double over their hosts foundered as the Greens stuttered to their worst display of the season.
If anything, their mood at no side was one of relief that their favourites had not gone down to a more comprehensive defeat and that they had at least denied Highland a win bonus.
In fairness to the city outfit, they raised their performance way above the ineffectual, shambling unit they looked for long spells in their 17-5 defeat in Thurso.
Their reshuffled pack, in which Kenny Cameron excelled in a highly effective
back row, regularly provided an advancing platform to enable their three-quarters
to impress with some slick, enterprising breaks.
Caithness looked badly in need of the festive break with this their sixth away outing in the last eight matches.
The BT National League Division 3 fixture was very much in doubt when the Skye referee assigned to the game left after pronouncing the main pitch unplayable.
That judgement was made half-an-hour after the Caithness bus had set off and it was only after a hectic series of phone-calls that the fixture was salvaged.
The back pitch was usable and former Highland coach John Carson was fixed up to ref.
The bad vibes for the visitors took hold as early as the warm-up when hooker Stevie Campbell had to call off due to the effects of a week suffering from flu.
Within 10 minutes, full-back Richard Mackay joined Campbell on the sidelines after sustaining what looked like a serious knee injury.
Caithness were mainly on the back foot though Mackay’s replacement Russell Mill almost made a dramatic introduction when he came within an ace of intercepting a pass in his own 22.
Highland remained on the offensive and only an all-enveloping tackle from Hamish Boyd prevented Fijian Epi Vukicea going over after 13 minutes.
The home men would not be denied and a minute later, a run penalty saw fly-half Stuart Mackintosh put Euan Ferguson over behind the posts.
Scrum-half Craig Little added the extras.
The Greens then enjoyed a decent spell capped by a menacing run from Andy Morris which required a brave tackle from Morris Dillon to block the number eight’s path to the line.
Michael Henderson kicked a 20th minute penalty to reduce the leeway to 7-3.
The fast-tempo game featured some crunching tackles, which was the main reason for a high quota of turnovers on both sides.
Among those to shine in the first half for the Greens was flanker James ‘Pigeon’ Sinclair who was lively at the breakdown and who made one superb try-saving cover tackle.
Highland continued to have the edge and Little kicked a penalty on 35 minutes after Caithness were penalised for crossing.
The visitors finished the half on top with a fine burst from William Mill triggering
a lengthy onslaught on the line when Hamish Boyd and Ewen Boyd were, in turn, stopped just short.
A penalty relieved the pressure and, in hindsight, extinguished the Greens’ last real chance to force their noses back into the frame.
Highland were encamped in opposition territory for most of the second half and came away frustrated not to have racked up a bonus win.
Caithness flirted with danger early on with James ‘Pop’ Sinclair lucky to get away with a slack bit of defence in front of his posts when he failed to control a chip through.
Ten minutes after the restart, the hosts were celebrating their second try when Highland stole line-out ball and attacked from right to left.
A dink through from Mackintosh found Kieran Watson who gathered before ducking under James ‘Pop’ Sinclair’s tackle to score in the corner.
Four minutes later, the Greens were in a huddle again when they conceded a long-range score.
A pass to Dillon on the halfway line looked marginally forward but the full-back took full advantage to outstrip three Greens on an arcing run to the line.
Caithness reduced the deficit after 62 minutes with a forward rumble the prelude to a purposeful attack which saw Henderson feed Duncan Sangster before Russell Mill gave the money pass to James ‘Pop’ Sinclair.
Henderson landed the conversion from wide out to give the Greens renewed hope.
The latter stages however saw the visitors again embedded deep in their own half and struggling to clear their lines.
Henderson had several kicks charged down while Highland right winger Andy Nesbit was bundled out in the corner as he seemed set to score.
Caithness could have no complaints with the defeat.
They missed too many first-up tackles and did not ask enough questions in attack.
Their best performers were James ‘Pigeon’ Sinclair, Russell Mill and scrum-half Graham Fryer.
Highland coach Brian Irvine said: "After our defeat in Thurso, it was not difficult to get the boys up for this.
"We were strong up front and didn’t give their backs the chance to get going."
He added: "The result helps the chances that both of us will go up and I’m looking forward to us playing home and away in next season’s National Division Two.
Greens coach Colin Sangster acknowledged that his side were beaten by the better side on the day.
He said: "Highland were at full strength and made 10 changes from the team that started in Caithness.
"They reckon that is the best they have played this season by a mile.
"Saying that, they ran at us early on and we didn’t close them down as we should have done.
"They kept the pressure on and whenever we got out of our half, we made a mistake and lost territory again."
Sangster believes the turning point came when his side failed to press home their advantage in the run-up to the interval.
He was unhappy with how his charges lost sight of the game plan after conceding the two second half tries.
"We lost our way a bit in the final quarter.
"We lacked composure. Too many people lost their heads and just put the team under more pressure."
The coach is calling on the Greens to get the defeat out of their system and focus on consolidating their promotion run in their next league game at home to Helensburgh on January 7.
Sangster said that before the season he would have happily settled to be sitting in second place, seven points clear of the next side.
Highland - M. Dillon, A. Nesbit, E. Vukicea, E. Ferguson, K. Watson, S. Mackintosh, C. Little, G. Fraser (cpt), K. Brown. J. Strachan, P. Miller, W. Rinakama, K. Cameron, A. Morrison, F. MacRae. Replacement (used) - G. High. Unused - G. MacDonald and A. Beattie.
Caithness -- R. Mackay, James 'Pop' Sinclair, W. Mill, D. Sangster, H. Boyd,
M. Henderson, G. Fryer, J. Foubister, D. Pottinger, J. MacMillan, E. Boyd,
D. Budge, James ‘Pigeon’ Sinclair, A. Morris (cpt), E. Sutherland. Replacements (all used) - R. Mill, R. Gray and G. Sutherland
Ref -- Mr J. Carson.
Falkirk stayed on track for the title with a 62-0 hammering of Newtown Stewart while Lismore kept on the coat-tails of Highland with a 25-5 victory over Edinburgh rivals Trinity Accies.
Helensburgh meanwhile scored a 30-12 home success over Whitecraigs.
The Glenrothes v Hawick YM match was postponed.
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