Greens and Krakens miss out on main honours in Kirkwall
The Greens and the Krakens rounded off their respective seasons on Saturday with a trip across the Pentland Firth to take part in the annual Orkney Sevens.
Both competed well but missed out in the battle for the main honours in the tournament at the Pickaquoy playing fields in Kirkwall.
The women’s competition attracted six sides, with the Krakens bidding to land a third successive title.
They scored a convincing 26-5 win over Steaming Dragons, one of the two Orkney teams, in their opening match. Try-scorers were Holly Trick, Devin Stuart, Caitlin Harvey and Lauren Gunn.
But they came out on the wrong side of a 29-12 scoreline in their second group game against Aberdeenshire Quines, with Harvey and Trick getting their touchdowns.
The Krakens then played the other group winners, Blazing Dragons, for a place in the final. The game seesawed both ways, with the Caithness women taking a 17-7 lead thanks to tries from Stuart, Harvey and Gunn, only for the Dragons to roar back with two late converted tries to edge it 21-17.
That consigned them to the third-place play-off but their scheduled opponents, the guest charity visiting side, the Pigbarians, scratched so they took home the shield.
The Margaret Lanni Memorial Trophy for the overall winners went to the Quines, who powered to a 34-7 victory in the final versus the Blazing Dragons.
The Greens had a trouble-free passage from their group, with runaway 40-0 and 34-0 wins respectively over local sides Auld Bulls and Young Farmers.
They maintained their perfect defensive record in a much more even contest when they prevailed 12-0 against Neeps and a Tattie in their quarter-final.
Caithness under-18 duo Olly Ruff and Gregor Mill, making their debuts for the Greens, showed up well and they ran in a hatful of tries between them.
The Greens, however, were no match for a slick Orkney side in their semi. They saw precious little of the ball as the hosts racked up a 48-0 win.
Orkney went on to claim a seventh successive title with a 34-0 triumph over the All Twatts in the final.
Guest side Pigbarians took home the plate; Corsie’s Commandos won the Bowl; and the Exporters secured the pail.
Caithness were represented in the Auld Bulls combine through Evergreens regulars Russell Mill, Graeme Ross and Stevie Campbell.
