Greens face an anxious wait after ugly clash with Aberdeenshire
The Greens came up just short in getting the win which would have gone a long way to ensuring they remain in Caley Division 1.
Their 19-12 defeat to visitors Aberdeenshire in Saturday’s North Conference clash leaves them anxiously awaiting the outcome of other games before their last fixture – a potential relegation decider at home to North Police on April 5.
The result was in doubt throughout the tussle at Millbank until Shire skipper Paul Harrow settled the issue with a last-minute opportunistic, short-range converted try.
By then, the home side were out on their feet after an ultra-physical contest against a team still with hopes of earning a spot in the promotion play-offs.
The Greens started the better with some good forward carries and a sparky touchline run from right-winger Shane Campbell.
Scrum-half Ewan MacDonald and centre Max Kennedy also caught the eye with some swashbuckling midfield breaks.
But open play was to be very much at a premium as the game developed into a slugfest between the two packs.
Caithness lost prop Mark Nicolson with a nasty facial injury after 10 minutes. That proved a particularly big blow to Caithness as Shire were to boss the multitude of scrums that followed.
Referee Ewan Scott soon found himself in the eye of a storm as he appeared to countenance visiting tighthead Shane Lafferty regularly shifting his angle to bore in on opposition hooker Duncan MacMillan.
The visitors drew first blood against the run of play on 21 minutes when, from a close-in scrum penalty, loosehead Lewis Emslie bulldozed his way to the line. Full-back Andy Wilson converted.
Eight minutes later, the Greens responded with a near identical play. Dave McIntosh was stopped within breathing distance of the line but fellow lock Kevin Brims picked and drove over.
Mr Scott had warned Shire about their mounting high tackle count before yellow-carding Mikey Mair for their next violation soon after, in stoppage time.
The centre had not long returned to the action before MacDonald was sin-binned.
By then, the visitors had increased their lead after they had pushed the Greens off their own ball at a scrum and number eight Jason Burton took advantage of a fractured defence to drive through and score.
Shire were opting to scrum when they won penalties, which took its toll on the energy banks of the home eight.
The main spark in attack for the Greens came from skipper Cole Wilson, who time and again swatted off tacklers and made good ground from unlikely positions.
The scores were tied at 12-12 with 13 minutes to go when blindside Lachlan Jardine exploded from the back of a ruck and broke two tackles before touching down. Campbell added the extras.
The visitors sensed an opportunity against flagging opponents in the last 10 minutes.
Dangerman Harrow would have scored on 77 minutes but for a try-saving, open-field tackle by full-back Scott Webster.
But the fly-half, now operating at scrum-half, was not to be denied and, after hooker Thomas Dugdale had done the donkeywork, his show-and-go at the base of a ruck saw him dive over.
Wilson converted to seal an ugly but much-celebrated victory for the visitors.
Shire’s player-of-the-day was their hard-working former Green Jack Sibbald, who now lives in the Granite City.
Saturday’s match between the Greens’ relegation rivals North Police and Ross Sutherland was postponed because the Aberdeen pitch was waterlogged.
The losing point earned by the Greens has them level with Ross, with Police five points behind but with two games in hand.
At the other end of the table, Mackie strengthened their hold on top spot with a hard-earned 42-36 win over Highland Seconds in Inverness.
A bonus-point win for the Stonehaven outfit in their last game, away to Aberdeenshire on Saturday, would clinch the title.