Greens snatch victory
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CAITHNESS ....................... 24
ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY ..... 14
THIS proved another nerve-tingler for the Millbank regulars who dreaded witnessing their favourites go down to a fifth straight defeat at home.
The outcome was in doubt until the final action when a converted try sealed victory and the clinching of the Greens’ first bonus point of the RBS Caley 1 season.
They were never able to shake off a dogged Uni side which travelled on the back of a comfortable win over Highland the previous week.
Caithness welcomed back loose head Ranald Pottinger after a spell out injured while the combative Steven Campbell made his first appearance of the season following his return from a trip down under.
Campbell was fielded at centre where he partnered Marc Anderson, another returning from
injury.
Only halfbacks Blair McIntosh and Gordie MacNab survived from the back division fielded at Glenrothes the previous Saturday.
The Greens enjoyed a decent start with the promise rewarded when they grabbed the opening score after 10 minutes.
A ball which went to deck was sent upfield by Grant Anderson and lock forward John Miller showed good pace and football skills in twice hacking the ball on before grounding.
Uni buckled down and were soon testing the opposition defence out wide. Fly-half Graeme Clow just missed out with a penalty attempt before his side took the lead 15 minutes before the turnaround.
The Caithness radar was down after they conceded another penalty which was taken quickly to allow visiting skipper Stew Shaw to breeze through unopposed.
Clow’s conversion of the flanker’s touchdown was true but the stand-off skewed a subsequent pot for goal past the far post.
Caithness attacks in the opposition 22 have too often gone unrewarded but on Saturday they carried more bite.
Three minutes from the interval an astute left-to-right switch in play in midfield by McIntosh launched Marc Anderson and he gave Miller a clear run to the line. McIntosh hit an upright with his wide-out conversion.
The Greens dominated the third quarter and a third try nourished hopes they could win with a bit to spare. Enjoying the edge in the setpiece and enjoying more than their fair share of turnovers in broken play, they were seldom out of their opponents’ half.
A multi-phase sequence ended with Miller making good ground before a quickly recycled ball had Grant Anderson surging for the line. He was stopped inches from the whitewash with a knock-on from the resultant play allowing Uni to clear their lines.
Six minutes later, the pressure paid off when a scrum five was driven over the line to allow Evan Sutherland to touch down for a try, improved by McIntosh.
Instead of going on to close out the game, the Greens were under the cosh for much of the remainder of the match. Sparky line breaks by right winger Aidan Holland and Ross Grant had the Greens desperately scrambling in their own 22 with Campbell getting back to tackle Clow close to the line.
The pressure was briefly relieved by a break-out from the Greens with David Pottinger and Sutherland carrying well before the move broke down with a handling error a couple of feet from the line.
Uni set up a tense last 10 minutes when Grant sliced his way through some paperweight tackling to cross at the posts. Clow converted to reduce the leeway to 17-14.
Caithness were indebted to a last-man tackle from fullback James Sinclair to prevent fullback Craig Smith scoring after being sent clear by Clow. After a couple more hairy moments the Greens looked to have relieved the growing anxiety when Marc Anderson finished off a move in the tennis court corner. But it was disallowed after McIntosh’s would-be money pass being judged forward.
The fourth try had to wait until the second minute of injury-time when McIntosh’s disguised feed sent Sutherland clear to the line. McIntosh’s conversion was the final act of the day.
Caithness: J. Sinclair, C. Spargo, M. Anderson, S. Campbell, W. Mill, B. McIntosh, G. Macleod, S. Dunnett (cpt), M. Nicolson, R. Pottinger, J. Miller, A. Morris, R. Coghill, E. Sutherland, G. Anderson. Replacements used: H. Coghill and D. Pottinger. Unused: D. Gunn.
Aberdeen University: C. Smith, A. Holland, R. Grant, H. Oliver, C. Brown, G. Clow, D. Rutherford, J. Flapan, A. Marshall, E. Melville, J. Chalmers, D. McLeod, S. Shaw (cpt), M. Bell, R. Barber.
Referee: D. Marshall.
