Greens get into their stride in second half to see off Aberdeen Wanderers
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Caithness got out of jail on Saturday after a five-star second half undid the damage done by an error-strewn, disjointed display before the break.
The five match points secured by the 34-10 win over Aberdeen Wanderers at Millbank puts them on the heels of leaders Orkney in Caledonia Region Division 1.
Most among the Caithness faithful would have bitten your hand off at the interval had you offered them a single-point victory. Their cause was not helped by a handful of enforced changes from the previous week's victory over Dunfermline and head coach Ewen Boyd being absent because of a stinking cold.
The swirling wind blowing across the park also made life testing for both teams.
Home lock Sinclair Bremner was prominent early on with several strong carries as Caithness looked the likelier to open the scoring.
But it was the city outfit who drew first blood after four minutes when their zippy full-back Scott Byars fielded an aimless punt and cut through a disorganised defence to canter over.
The Caithness efforts to generate momentum were too often aborted by spilled passes, wayward kicking and a failure to protect the ball in contact.
The game had a lengthy delay when home centre Colin Chambers was treated for a head knock and had to be stretchered off suffering from concussion.
Marc Anderson was off target with a penalty shot before Stuart Crichton went over on 22 minutes after a series of close-range surges.
Anderson's conversion had the Greens ahead but that man Byars struck again in the last action of the first half, shrugging off a couple of would-be tacklers before crossing wide out to put his side 10-7 in front.
Refreshed by replacement props Mark Nicolson and Ben Bissett, Caithness finally snapped out of the torpor that had enveloped them. The passes were sticking, the carries were purposeful and the clear-outs were freeing up much quicker ball.
Nicolson, making his season's debut, quickly set about making his mark. After burrowing over for a try, the prop made a more than a decent fist of an attacking chip and then put winger Ruaridh Mackay over for the fourth try.
In between, Evan Sutherland's break paved the way for centre Charlie Quinn to grab his second touchdown of the campaign.
Wanderers were up against it and it got no better on the hour mark when a head knock forced loosehead prop Nathan Alexander to join injured scrum-half Cameron Russell on the sidelines.
After being hit by several eleventh-hour call-offs, the city combine had travelled with 15 and so the final quarter saw them two men down and with the scrums uncontested.
Caithness took full advantage, with Euan MacDonald releasing Sutherland to touch down before hooker Hamish Coghill's pop pass allowed Anderson to cross for the sixth.
On a treacherous day for goal-kicking, Anderson landed a second conversion.
Stand-in coach Russell Mill was happy enough to watch the Greens complete their first back-to-back victories of the season.
He said: "The guys did struggle to adapt to playing with quite a few new faces and we were very flat in the first half.
"There was very little to be said at half-time as they knew the things that needed to change.
"The key thing to emerge was that, when we needed leaders, we found them and we turned the game around in the second half."
Mill was happy with the impact of the replacements, giving special mention to the midfield presence of Crichton and piano-shifting duo Nicolson and Bissett.
The only other match in the league saw Dunfermline run in nine tries in a 55-0 thumping of Blairgowrie.
Caithness are next in action away to bottom side Glenrothes on November 27.
The Krakens’ scheduled match against Shetland was postponed.
