"It has been a heck of a season for the lads"
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CAITHNESS boss Tom McGee was disappointed to end a memorable season with their first home defeat of the campaign.
The Greens, having secured promotion to the Scottish National League set-up the previous week, were hoping to put on a show for their home crowd to close the Caledonia 1 season on a winning note.
Despite being 20-8 up at half-time against Dunfermline, Caithness lost their way somewhat in the second half as the Fifers pulled off a stunning comeback to win 37-33.
“Despite the result, it has been one heck of a season for the lads,” McGee said. “They have made huge strides as a group and ultimately we have achieved what we set out to do, which was win promotion.
“As for the match itself, first of all credit to Dunfermline who played well in the second half and took full advantage of the errors that we made.
“It was always a dangerous game with Dunfermline on a good run of form of late. We started poorly but managed to tighten things up to pull away to a 20-8 lead at half time.
“However, it was a case that the next score would decide the match and we didn’t get it. We struggled with our lineout, we knocked on possession and we gave Dunfermline too many freebies.”
McGee, though, is insistent that Caithness did not ease off the gas having already secured promotion.
He added: “I don’t think we slackened off. There was no complacency about us at all. We did play good rugby at times but, when we didn’t, Dunfermline made us pay.
“We need to get past the frustration of not being able to sign off the season with a win pretty quickly. We’ll be up against tougher teams next season so we’ll need to work hard once pre-season gets under way.
“However, we have ambitions for next year. We will not be going in just to dip our toe into the big league set-up.
“We want to compete in every game and cement our place within the National League.”
Elsewhere, the Caithness under-15 girls’ team booked themselves a trip to Murrayfield as they made it to the final of the Caledonia National Cup.
The Greens travelled to Glasgow where they comprehensively beat Hillhead/Jordanhill 50-19.
