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Greens edge out Orkney as Caithness team face islanders at Millbank


By Iain Grant

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Centre Charlie Quinn, seen in action against Glenrothes last season, suffered a rib injury.
Centre Charlie Quinn, seen in action against Glenrothes last season, suffered a rib injury.

The honours were shared on Saturday as Orkney travelled with two men's rugby squads to lock horns with Caithness at Millbank.

In the first double-header for many years between the two clubs, the Greens prevailed 19-10 while the islanders edged out their counterparts 17-15 in the Seconds fixture.

The respective first XVs used the match as a warm-up for their upcoming league and cup campaigns.

While Caithness remain in Caley One, Orkney will have to adapt to life in National League 1 after winning the regional division last season.

Newly appointed Greens coach Kenny Russell was happy with how his men performed.

He said: "It was good to see a lot of what we have been doing in training working in the game.

"I was pretty pleased with how we did and there were a couple of really good individual performances.

"It was also good to see the results of the pre-season fitness work Cameron Boyd has been doing with the boys."

With a squad of 22, Russell made a succession of changes to ensure all got plenty of gametime, albeit at the expense of continuity.

He said: "For the first 35 minutes, we fielded our strongest side of those that were there and I was very happy with how they went."

By that time, they were two converted tries to the good.

Winger Nathan Quinn raced on to a Marc Anderson cross-kick to open the scoring after nine minutes.

The second score was an opportunist effort from centre Stuart Crichton who seized on a knock-on in the Orkney midfield to scamper home from just outside the 22.

Kenny Russell was pleased with how the game went.
Kenny Russell was pleased with how the game went.

Anderson converted before the visitors struck back eight minutes from half-time.

After pirating scrum ball, they probed down the narrow side with a kick-ahead falling kindly to allow their left winger to touch down.

Within five minutes of the turnaround, the Greens grabbed their third try of the day to go 19-5 in front.

A five metre advancing maul from a line-out saw Mark Nicolson held up a foot from the line before second row Kevin Brims sealed the deal.

Orkney reduced the deficit 15 minutes from time after a slick handling move. However, they did not threaten again with Caithness finishing the stronger.

Russell said: "Overall, I was really pleased with how the game went. I thought (full back) Cammy Ryder did really well and (second row) Tom Storey had his best game in a Greens jersey.

"If we were to be brutally honest with ourselves, we would have to say we left some points out there."

The main downside from the outing was the injuries picked up by three players. Number eight Grant Anderson and centre Charlie Quinn both have rib issues while Ryder suffered a head knock.

The Greens plan to have an internal bounce game on Saturday to complete their preparations for the start to competitive action on August 27 when they travel to face Grangemouth Stags in the first round of the national Shield.

The Lyle Cup has meanwhile been brought out of mothballs after the clubs' Seconds clashed for the first time in several decades.

With both squads fielding players who had not seen active service for some time, the game was split into four quarters.

The Yellows were quickly out of the blocks with unconverted tries from Max Kennedy and Michael Tait putting them 10 points in front in as many minutes.

Playing with the wind, they retained the whip hand and should have been further ahead before the first interval.

The visitors regrouped and after surviving a couple of scares, got on the scoreboard with a bulldozing run seeing loosehead Simon Owen crash over for a try on his debut.

The scores were tied when number Niall Campbell finished off a series of tilts at the line in the five-metre channel.

Omar McMahon's conversion had his side 12-10 in front at the end of the second quarter.

Caithness dominated the next period and Calum Macdonald's try was scant reward for their efforts.

Orkney pressed hard during the final quarter with their pack taking charge and putting their opponents very much on the back foot.

The pressure paid off when Campbell ploughed his way over for his second try of the day to give Orkney a 17-15 lead to take into the second leg.

Yellows coach Cameron Boyd was encouraged by his side's fast start.

"Last season, we paid for not starting games well when we were having to play catch-up. But on Saturday we started strongly and overall I thought it was a really good performance by us.

"We, however, had personnel issues with a few of the boys ending up playing for both the 1sts and the Seconds.

"Two of our guys, Dave McIntosh and Dougie Gunn, also played for Caithness veterans in Dundee the previous evening and they both put in a really good shift for us.

"There were therefore reasons why we ran out of steam a little bit in the later stages."

Caithness Seconds are hoping to enter a side for the Orkney 10s on August 20 before kicking off their Caledonian North Division 3 campaign with a home match versus Highlands 3rds on September 3.


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