Decent display from depleted Greens
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CAITHNESS ......................................11
CAITHNESS coach Colin Sangster worked a minor miracle to muster a fighting force for this penultimate match in their RBS Caley League 1 season.
The lengthy roll call of absentees was particularly acute in the tight five, where all four regular props and three locks to feature in the campaign were ruled out for one reason or another.
Sangster had a tough time wheeling and dealing before finalising a starting line-up, which featured a wholly unfamiliar pack.
Just the back row played in their normal berths, with exiles Davie McIvor and Andrew Sangster answering SOSs.
The back division, while under strength, was far less disrupted, with Wick teenager Douglas Webster making a very good fist of his debut on the wing.
The makeshift outfit surprised themselves when their tenacious start saw them score 11 points without reply.
The Greens did ride their luck on several occasions when the city side contrived to butcher clear scoring opportunities. Caithness made the most of spells of pressure with two penalties converted by fly half Liam Brims.
They also threatened in attack with a bustling run by centre Danny Gordon halted by a last-man tackle from fullback Ian Maxwell.
Shortly afterwards, Gordon exploited another opening but this time was able to burst clear and cross for an unconverted try.
That is the way it stood until minutes from the interval when Gordonians opened their account.
The try stemmed from an aimless Caithness kick-ahead and dog-leg chase which invited a long-range counter. It ended with winger Graeme Crawford powering over near the posts to make fly half Mark Marchbank’s conversion a formality.
The city side felt the tide turning in their favour and within 10 minutes of the turnaround they led 19-11 thanks to further tries from Maxwell and openside flanker Geoff Dunne, and a second Marchbank conversion.
The Greens gamely fought back and Andrew Sangster and Stevie Campbell were prominent with some powerful carries.
They enjoyed a decent spell around the hour mark which had their opponents defending their line.
Crucially, the ball was coughed up on the last of a series of charges and Gordonians raced upfield with Maxwell ending the sequence with an unopposed run to the line. Marchbank added the extras.
Sangster believes this proved the key turning point in the clash.
“We showed a fatal lack of composure when we were camped deep in their 22,” he said. “The ball goes loose and they race away and score to make it 26-11 when it could have been 19-18.”
Second row replacement Logan Neave rounded off the scoring at the death after getting on the end of a crossfield kick.
Sangster praised his rag-tag army for the effort and commitment they displayed.
He said: “31-11 wasn’t a fair reflection of how the game went.
“We were always going to struggle to get a result given the number of absentees we had and we lacked the stamina to keep going for 80 minutes.
“Given that on the Wednesday we had just one front-five forward confirmed, and the number of players who were playing out of position, it was a more than decent performance.”
Gordonians: I. Maxwell, J. Campbell, A. Jess, J. Bowen (cpt), G. Crawford, M. Marchbank, S. Hemmingway, M. Byers, C. Simpson, G. MacKenzie, R. Bonner, T. Pinet, D. Neill, A. Coppen, G. Dunne. Replacements: L. Neave, M. Brechin, D. Morrow, S. Morgan, S. Byers and S. Lawson.
Caithness: B. McIntosh, N. Smith, G. Poke, D. Gordon, D. Webster, L. Brims, G. Macleod, C. Smith, D. McIvor, H. Coghill, R. Coghill, M. Duffy, P. Nicolson, A. Sangster, S. Campbell. Replacements, used: R. Miller and A. Nicolson.
Caithness round off their league campaign away to champions Aberdeenshire a week tomorrow.
Caithness Seconds, meanwhile, will make a belated launch to their season when they travel to play Orkney Seconds in the first round of the Brin Cup.
