Fired-up Greens in five-star display
CAITHNESS .....................................41
MACKIE ACADEMY FPS .................12
AFTER two opening defeats, the Greens cut loose on Saturday to open their account in the RBS Caledonia League 1.
The damage was done during a pulsating first half-hour when they ran in five tries without reply.
Their heady mix of forward power-play and sleight of hand and pace in the wide zones had Mackie facing the prospect of an unseemly rout.
The Stonehaven visitors regrouped and ended the match by no means disgraced after building on a sprightly finish to the half by shading the second period.
Through their proximity to North Sea oil activity, Mackie have in recent years pursued a sponsorship programme which has allowed them to obtain the services of young New Zealand talent. They currently have outside-half Anaru Atkins and powerhouse number eight Steve Akauola, with two similar tie-ups in the pipeline.
The Kiwi duo were powerless early on as a fired-up Caithness took a vice-like grip on the contest.
An advancing scrum was the source of the first try when a series of dynamic mini-rucks ended with scrum-half Graham Fryer burrowing his way over.
The Greens were almost in again from the restart when a quick line-out from Grant Anderson culminated with Danny Gordon being levelled a few metres from the try line.
A little later, Gordon sent centre colleague Marc Anderson on a free run to touch down the second score.
Caithness were monopolising the ball and on 15 minutes were celebrating a third try when Gordie Macleod quit his wing berth to pick up from a ruck and sell an exaggerated dummy before crossing under the posts.
The next touchdown was the best of the day with a sublime handling exchange following Andy Morris’s initial run which cut open Mackie’s defence.
Kris Hamilton was put in the clear to score close enough to the posts to allow full-back Gary Mackay to make it four out of four conversions.
The Greens were brought back to earth from the restart when they were caught short-handed on their right flank and Mackie’s centre Mike Levack was able to put winger Ross Gray in for an unconverted score.
Caithness hit back on 26 minutes when their three-quarters exploited another platform created by their hard-working pack, with Gordon receiving the final pass to score. Mackay missed the conversion but banged over a penalty to give his side an interval lead of 36-5.
The visitors licked their wounds and came out in the second half in resolute mood.
Their cause was aided by an increasingly errant display by their opponents whose handling aberrations were matched by their needless concession of penalties.
The Greens twice got off the hook when opposition full-back Cameron Gray looked set to run in long-range scores off interceptions from Hamilton passes.
On the first occasion, play was halted for a previous Mackie offence. On the second, Hamilton redeemed himself by making up a 20-yard start which Gray had on him to rescue what looked like a lost cause.
Ref Bill Mitchell, who lived up to his high-ranking reputation, eventually lost patience with the mounting Greens penalty count when he yellow-carded Macleod a couple of minutes from time.
Mackie exploited the extra man when Gray surged through and put scrum-half Rory Mellis on a clear run to the line. Levack converted.
Caithness managed to end the match on a high when back row duo Stevie Campbell and Evan Sutherland did the legwork to allow replacement Marc Nicolson to cross the line for a try, which was converted by Mackay.
Caithness – G. Mackay, G. Macleod, M. Anderson, D. Gordon, J. Sinclair, K. Hamilton, G. Fryer, J. Miller, H. Coghill, M. Duffy, A. Morris, R. Gray, G. Anderson, E. Sutherland, S. Campbell. Replacements (all used) – R. Pottinger, M. Nicolson, R. Coghill and D. Webster.
Mackie Academy FPs – C. Gray, J. MacConnachie, S. Morgan, M. Levack, R. Gray, A. Atkins, R. Mellis, S. Simpson, C. Reddish, G. Muir, A. Pittendreigh, M. Coull, M. Kelly, S. Akauola, C. Thomson. Replacement (used) – S. Brown.
Ref – Bill Mitchell.