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Caithness head coach insists: ‘We want to stay up on our own merits’





Cameron Boyd: 'We are still targeting three wins from our remaining three matches.' Picture: James Gunn
Cameron Boyd: 'We are still targeting three wins from our remaining three matches.' Picture: James Gunn

The Greens have increased their advantage over Caley 1 North Conference bottom dogs North Police without playing.

Their scheduled clash in Thurso on Saturday was pulled on Wednesday after the Aberdeen-based side indicated that the work rotas of their players meant they could not raise a squad to travel.

A four-point deduction was imposed by Scottish Rugby, while the match has been rearranged for April 5.

The sanction is the second the police have faced for non-fulfilment of fixtures this season.

It leaves them on seven points, seven points behind Ross Sutherland and nine adrift of third-bottom Caithness.

Head coach Cameron Boyd was disappointed at the cancellation but appreciated the candour of the service side.

“Fair play to them for owning up early on that they didn’t have a team and not coming up with another excuse or waiting to call off because of the weather,” he said.

Boyd, however, wants his side to stay in the division through their own efforts.

“The latest points deduction puts them another step towards relegation but we are still targeting three wins from our remaining three matches,” he said.

“We want to stay up on our own merits and not because somebody else is struggling.”

The fly in the ointment for the coach is that their outstanding three home matches are spaced out over two months.

After hosting Ellon on February 8, they face Aberdeenshire on February 22 before completing their programme with the rescheduled match versus North Police.

The top four in the league remain locked in a battle to claim one of the two promotion play-off places up for grabs.

Mackie went top on Saturday after they returned from Invergordon with a comfortable 43-12 victory over Ross Sutherland.

Ellon moved level in second with Highland 2nd XV, a point behind the Stonehaven outfit, after edging out the city side 42-38 at The Meadows.

Long-time frontrunners Aberdeenshire are fourth, 10 points adrift of Mackie, but they have two games in hand on all of their rivals.


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