Greens take on Orkney in cup opener
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THE competitive rugby season gets under way tomorrow when Caithness are in cup action in Orkney.
The trip to Kirkwall for the RBS Caledonian Shield first-round clash marks the welcome return of the Far North derby.
The Greens are this year led by Donald MacIntosh, last year’s number two to Colin Sangster, who is now coaching the county’s under-15s.
MacIntosh, the club’s most capped player, takes over at a time when Scottish league rugby has undergone another major rejig.
Caithness was among the clear majority of clubs which sided with the change, which has brought in regionalisation below what was last year’s National League division one.
That means the Greens will line up in the new-look RBS Caledonia division one, opening with Glenrothes at home a week tomorrow.
They warmed up for tomorrow’s cup tie with a comfortable 44-17 away win over Moray in a friendly.
Number eight Evan Sutherland scored three tries against the Elgin outfit, which plays in Caledonia North "B".
Sutherland proved a real handful with his picks from the bases of advancing scrums and his pace about the park.
The pack enjoyed a field day at the set scrums, winning eight against the head and giving their opposite numbers a generally torrid time.
Winger Martin Oswald ran in the first try early on, finishing off a slick handling move by selling his opposite number a classy dummy.
It was the first of a double for Oswald with fellow winger Yaeger Coghill and second row Roddie Gray also crossing and Liam Brims adding three conversions and a penalty.
Moray’s points came from tries from lock-forward John Westmacott, fly half Craig Forster and centre Ryan Anderson, and a conversion from centre Marc Higgins.
MacIntosh said: "For a first outing, this was a very competitive match which for much of the first half was nip and tuck.
"Moray are a side on the up but they found the step up to fully competitive scrums difficult.
"I also thought our better fitness levels paid dividends in the second period."
He added: "We failed in a number of areas, passing up scores through an inability to deliver the final pass. Too often, good attacking runs ended with ball turned over through a lack of support players.
"At contact points, we also tried to force passes when we should have gone to ground and recycled."
MacIntosh believes his squad will have to crank up a couple of notches if it is to progress in the cup versus Orkney.
Caithness squad: G. Macleod, M. Oswald, M. Anderson, G. Poke, Y. Coghill, L. Brims, G. Fryer, S. Dunnett, H. Coghill, T. Sutherland, A. Morris, J. Miller, M. Duffy, E. Sutherland, P. Nicolson, R. Gray and R. Coghill.
