Away win consolidates upturn in fortunes for Greens
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
The Greens' Christmas party on Saturday evening was given extra pizzazz after they chalked up their first victory on their travels.
Their 19-5 win over Aberdeen Wanderers lacked the style and intensity of their previous week's humbling of then Caledonia 1 North Conference leaders Aberdeenshire. But the result consolidated the recent welcome upturn in fortunes for the Greens.
Wanderers are enduring tough times, having to rely on a large number of dual-registered players to field a side this season.
They again had a very youthful, inexperienced squad for the game which was switched from Groats Road to the 4G pitch at Dyce.
Caithness travelled with 16, with a dearth of regular backs seeing regular number eight Cole Wilson at inside centre and prop Ally Williams redeployed in the back row.
Caithness were on the front foot throughout against opponents still looking to pick up their first win of the season. But sloppy execution saw them struggle to put the game to bed.
Wilson crossed for the visitors midway through the first half after exploiting an undermanned short side.
The Dounreay policeman struck again soon after the turnaround when Scott Webster and Hamish Coghill did the spadework before Duncan MacMillan delivered the money pass to Wilson.
Fly-half Jamie Mowat converted both before full-back Webster hit the perfect line to finish off a sweetly executed backs move.
Wanderers replied with an unconverted try from centre Regan Lofthouse during their only serious spell of red zone pressure.
Caithness skipper Coghill is seldom compared to Cheslin Kolbe but he emulated South Africa's flying winger when he charged down the conversion attempt.
Kolbe is best known for his searing pace and spectacular tries but arguably his most telling contribution for the World Cup champions in this summer's tournament was his vital blocking of a Thomas Ramos conversion kick during their 29-28 quarter-final victory over France in Paris.
Caithness did not concede in the final 15 minutes despite having Ryan Cormack and Kevin Brims yellow-carded for high tackles.
Greens coach Cameron Boyd believed playing on the grass pitch would have suited his team better. But he recognised the switch to Dyce was made to ensure the game would not succumb to heavy rainfall.
"We were on top pretty much the whole game but we didn't play nearly as well as we are capable of," Boyd said.
"We did have guys playing out of position but we seemed to have a collective doziness about us. We didn't really gel and our communication let us down."
On the plus side, Boyd said his players generated a lot of go-forward.
"It was not our finest performance but to travel with 16 and to dominate and win a game in which we had two players yellow-carded is pretty decent," he said.
Lock Lachlan Jardine continued to impress in a man-of-the-match performance, while Wilson forged a useful-looking centre partnership with Charlie Quinn.
Caithness next play the Exiles/Students in the annual Sinclair Cadzow Memorial Cup on Tuesday. Kick-off is 1pm.
Their next league game sees them host Ellon on January 6.
Moray took over top spot in the conference after they defeated Aberdeenshire 32-12 in Elgin.
Highland Seconds occupy the third play-off spot following their 29-19 victory over Mackie in Stonehaven.
