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| CAITHNESS 19 - LENZIE 7 by Iain Grant |
| Fri 27th Jan 2006 |
 A furious, late surge enabled Caithness to overhaul their Central belt opponents and secure their quarter-final place in the BT Bowl.
They relied on the boot of Michael Henderson to edge them in front before a Stevie Campbell try eight minutes from the end provided much-needed breathing space.
The teams fought out two close games last season, resulting in a win apiece.
The Greens were therefore not fooled that their superior status - they are likely to start next term two flights above Lenzie - would have any bearing on the outcome.
Lenzie, currently enjoying a good run in BT National League Division 4, left disappointed after a wholehearted effort which had them 7-6 up with just 12 minutes remaining.
Their cause was hit when their skilful if combative fly half Ross MacAulay was forced to retire with a dislocated thumb midway early in the second half.
The loss of their playmaker was a blow and the visitors visibly flagged in the latter stages.
Caithness made four changes in the back division, with Michael Henderson back at fly half and Norman Foubister moving out to inside centre and the Mill brothers, Russell and William, on the wings.
Donald Buchanan, Roddy Gray and Danny Budge meanwhile all got shots at the tighthead berth involuntarily vacated by ankle break victim John Foubister.
Both defences were given a searching examination in the opening minutes and it was the home rearguard that cracked first.
After eight minutes, Lenzie exploited a scrum10 metres out with a well-executed inside pass from MacAulay giving full-back Chris Hamilton a free run to the line.
MacAulay added the extras.
The Greens responded immediately from the restart.
Campbell’s brave take from the spiralling kick sparked off a counter which led to Lenzie infringing to allow Henderson to register his first points of the day.
He repeated the feat after 17 minutes when Lenzie were penalised following a bad-tempered spat in which a few punches were thrown.
That cut the deficit to the one point lead the visitors were to take into the closing minutes.
MacAulay was short with two long-range penalty attempts as his side continued to show up well, notably in their adeptness at winning ball on the floor.
Caithness had their moments in the first half but were undone by silly errors.
Midway through the half, skipper Andy Morris, one of his side’s top performers, set Hamish Boyd clear only for the centre to throw a pass forward to William Mill with a try beckoning.
A later searing break by Foubister pierced the Lenzie defence but the promising break was halted by Campbell knocking on.
These were two of a rash of handling errors which prevented the Greens generating the continuity they needed to capitalise on their good spells.
Caithness were discomfited by their opponents’ well-executed rush defence and once again the heavy conditions conspired against the home side’s expansive game plan.
After Lenzie missed a 50th minute penalty, the Greens stepped up a gear with Lenzie increasingly pinned deep in their own territory.
Morris and Hamish Boyd were prominent with some incisive breaks but once again the pressure counted for naught due to a combination of sloppy handling and doughty defence.
It was then the turn of Caithness to show grit in defence as the Glasgow side regrouped and sought what could have been a clinching score.
The see-saw contest then swung decisively towards the Greens.
A strong forward-led sortie, spearheaded by Budge, had Lenzie in full retreat and they stopped the attack only at the expense of a penalty.
Henderson skewed his 66th minute attempt on goal wide but two minutes later he drilled the ball between the posts after another offside infringement.
That put Caithness 9-7 up, a lead that looked vulnerable within minutes when Lenzie mounted a vigorous attack in the opposition 22.
X A heel against the head from a scrum was vital and allowed Hamish Boyd to hoof the ball to safety.
The vital score was instigated by a powerful burst from Foubister who fed Hamish Boyd who was stopped just short wide on the right at the tennis court end.
The ball was snappily recycled to exploit a looming overlap with Campbell able to gather and touch down under the posts.
Henderson converted and added a last minute penalty to end the day with a personal haul of 14 points.
Lenzie coach Wilson Fulton reckoned his side was unlucky not to win.
He said: "The score flattered Caithness as for the first 60 minutes, I thought we had the game under control.
"We were trying to speed the ball up at the breakdown and Caithness were trying to slow it down.
"I thought quite a few decisions went against us and that the refereeing of the rucks and mauls was poor."
During the game, Fulton was ordered to return to his technical area by ref Alan MacLean after the coach angrily disputed a series of decisions.
Caithness - H. Boyd, R. Mill, D. Sangster, N. Foubister, W. Mill, M. Henderson, G. Fryer, D. Buchanan, S. Campbell, J. MacMillan, R. Gray, E. Boyd, J. Sinclair, A. Morris (cpt), E. Sutherland. Replacements (all used) - D. Budge, D. Pottinger, L. MacNicol and J. Begg.
Lenzie - C. Hamilton, A. Kennedy, F. Morrison, R. Queenan, J. MacAaulay, R. MacAualay. S. Hardie, R. Saunders, A. Johnston, I. Matier (cpt), S. McNish, D. MacLean, C. Henderson, S. MacPherson, D. Scouller. Replacements (all used) - A. Duncan, I. Telford and F. Colletta.
Ref - Mr A. MacLean, Fearn.
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