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| CAITHNESS 22 - NEWTON STEWART 8 by Iain Grant |
| Wed 22nd Mar 2006 |
As humdrum, end-of season encounters go, this was, well, pretty average.
While promotion to BT National 3 is assured, the Greens still have the incentive of finishing above city rivals Highland.
That stimulus perhaps kept enough bodies doing more than go through the motions on Saturday to register a league double over their Galloway opponents.
As in the previous tussle, the men from Newton Stewart proved feisty opposition in the close-quarter exchanges.
They succeeded in swarming to the breakdown and slowing opposition ball to minimise the opportunities for the useful-looking Green three-quarters.
Scorching tries by Stevie Campbell and Norman Foubister near the end of both halves proved decisive for the home side.
Their stickiest spell came midway through the second period when a rather harsh sin-binning for Green lock Ewen Boyd was the prelude to a lively spell for the visitors.
It culminated in a try from fly-half Niall Armstrong which reduced the deficit to 11-8 and briefly caused a few flutters in the home camp.
An overcast, if dry day at Millbank saw the much-maligned pitch in its best condition of the year.
Caithness were first to impose themselves with Duncan Sansgter and Norman Foubister showing up well early on with useful snipes upfield.
The pressure counted for naught and a spell of messy play by the Greens ended up with them conceding a penalty in kickable range.
Centre Ian Russell spliced the posts to put his side ahead on eight minutes.
Caithness recaptured the initiative and a searching kick from Hamish Boyd and a committed charge from skipper Andy Morris sparked another onslaught.
After 18 minutes, NS were penalised at a maul within the shadow of their own posts and Michael Henderson duly potted the kick.
Four minutes later, a searing break from Foubister saw him steal behind enemy lines but -- as was to be a feature of the game -- NS’s excellent scramble defence defused the danger, albeit at the eventual expense of a penalty.
Caithness went ahead after 27 minutes thanks to a second Henderson penalty.
The Greens had the bulk of play but with too many of their pack off the pace, they lacked the numbers at the breakdown.
As a result, NS either successfully slowed up play or turned over the ball.
The Greens finally sparked into life in the closing minutes of the half with two cracking moves, which both deserved scores.
Two minutes from the interval, a fizzing three-quarters move was kept alive by a superb take around his bootlaces by Hamish Boyd.
He linked with James ‘Pop’ Sinclair who chipped the last defender and would have scored but for a rogue bounce, which he was unable to gather.
In injury time, a series of powerful phases saw Caithness move the ball right to left at the tennis court end.
Sangster changed the direction with a nifty inside pass which put Campbell on a diagonal, rampaging run to the line near the left corner.
Henderson missed the conversion to make the half-time score 11-3,
The third quarter was littered with mistakes with both teams playing as if the end of the season can not come quickly enough.
The Caithness scrum regularly looked uncomfortable and midway through the half creaked enough to allow their opponents to nick one against the head.
A minute later, the home pack was reduced to seven when Ewen Boyd was sin-binned for a late tackle.
It appeared harsh as the lock had committed himself to engage just before ref Fred Fraser had blown for a scrum.
NS took full advantage as from the next play, they broached the home line.
A series of bullocking charges over-committed the Greens’ defence and when the ball was finally released to Armstrong, he darted through a gap to cross near the posts.
Russell made a hash of the conversion attempt which, if successful, would have reduced the lead to a single point.
The setback had a positive effect on Caithness who from the restart went about their business with palpably more collective vigour.
Morris and David Pottinger were in the van of a succession of penetrative sorties down the centre of the park, which took play past the NS 22.
The final maul was brought down, leading to a penalty which Henderson kicked.
Henderson added another penalty after 73 minutes to increase his side’s lead beyond a converted try.
A minute later, Caithness grabbed their second try of the afternoon when Foubister exploited a gap in the midfield defence to sprint over from the 22.
Tomorrow, the Greens complete their home programme with a match versus Trinity Accies.
Coach Colin Sangster reckons a win would all but secure second place behind champions Falkirk.
His side scored a 43-9 success over Trinity in Edinburgh but Sangster says there will be no complacency in the ranks tomorrow.
He said: "We really need to get in about these guys from the start.
"The longer they stay in the gamer, the more encouragement they will get.
"We want to mark our last home game of the season with a really good performance."
The coach will again be missing as he is on Scotland under-18 duty in Wales.
The Greens are expected to make changes in the back row with George Sutherland, Evan Sutherland and James ‘Pigeon’ Sinclair all available again.
Teenage winger James Paterson is also set to rejoin the squad.
Caithness - H. Boyd, J. Sinclair, N. Foubister, D. Sangster, J. Begg, M. Henderson, G. Fryer, J. MacMillan, D. Pottinger, D. Buchanan, E. Boyd, R. McIntosh, L. MacNicol, A. Morris (cpt), S. Campbell. Replacements (all used) - R. Gray, D. Budge and R. Mackay.
Ref -- Mr F. Fraser, Ross-Sutherland.
Trinity on Saturday went down 42-13 at home to Helensburgh.
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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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