Call-offs leave Greens feeling blue in Glasgow
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A tough day at the office was the best way to describe the Greens’ trip to Glasgow at the weekend.
Team manager Garry Anderson had been hopeful of welcoming back players who had been missing through injury or work commitments.
But not long before the team boarded the bus for their National League Three clash away to Hillhead/Jordanhill the call-offs started to roll in, with the injury list gaining new members. The front five positions in particular were badly affected.
Therefore it was no surprise that the threadbare Caithness squad fell to a thumping 69-7 defeat.
Anderson said: "It was a tough day. Credit to the boys who were out there for their effort, but once again we suffered due to low numbers.
"As you saw with England in the World Cup final, they struggled in the set-piece and, with the absences we had, so did we as Hillhead/Jordanhill dominated the scrum and line-out.
"We had to call on some of our southern-based players to come along to Glasgow and help out.
"Bruce Stewart and Craig Chambers are down south at university and they kindly came along, as did Roger Webster who is at Sandhurst [military academy] but happened to be in Glasgow at the weekend.
"However, the game just went away from us and the fact we were 40-0 down by half-time tells its own story.
"The only positive was that the younger guys got a taste of first-team action."
Caithness welcome promotion-chasing Berwick to Millbank on Saturday with Anderson keen to evoke a certain cup tie from yesteryear.
He added: "In 2014 we hosted them in a cup match and pulled off a shock result. Obviously a lot of changes have happened at both clubs since then but maybe we can use the memory of that to help us.
"We got a very good crowd that day of 1500 and if the fans could turn out in numbers and be as vocal as they were back then it could give us that extra lift to push on towards getting a result.
"All being well, we hope to have Kris Hamilton, Grant Anderson, Mark Mackenzie and Kevin Budge back.
"Evan Sutherland and Ben Parker may or may not be making a return. Both are on business in France and we're waiting to see if they will be able to get back in time to play."
Elsewhere in National League Three, Greenock Wanderers reclaimed top spot as they defeated Carrick 27-8. Previous leaders Ardrossan are now second following their 19-13 loss at Lasswade.
Berwick are still third but were made to work hard by West of Scotland as they edged out the Milngavie side in a tight 20-19 finish. All other fixtures were postponed.
National League Three Fixtures
Saturday, November 9 (all kick-offs 2pm)
Ardrossan Academicals v Hillhead/Jordanhill
Caithness v Berwick
Carrick v Lasswade
Howe of Fife v Greenock Wanderers
Murrayfield Wanderers v Strathmore
Perthshire v West of Scotland
