Krakens' improvement evident in first success against Orkney Dragons
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The Krakens tore up the form book as they posted a first win over their Pentland Firth neighbours.
They went into Sunday's National Plate tie at Millbank on Sunday having shipped 98 points in two league drubbings at the hands of Orkney Dragons.
The improvement they have made since was evident in both the margin and the manner of their 38-14 win.
Their third bonus-point victory out of the first three games in their qualifying group sets up a winner-takes-all match at home on Saturday against Strathmore, who have an identical record.
Emmy Smith was a thorn in the side of the Dragons with her rampaging runs, tackling and support play.
Within three minutes, the number eight was celebrating the first of her three tries when she broke free from the halfway line. Karyln Barnard converted.
The Dragons responded with what was to prove their first and last sustained spell of pressure in the opposition 22.
Krakens defended valiantly before opposition full-back Aleisha Womak burst clear to score. Nikita Scollie added the extras to pull her side level.
Midway through the half, another powerful break from Smith saw her stopped a couple of metres short, with flanker Helen Richard quickly in support to plunge over.
Five minutes from the interval, centre Shannon Pasotti made an immediate impact from the bench when she supported another Smith break to cross. Barnard's third successful kick made it 21-7.
Home back Ellie Anderson had a contender for tackle of the day before the Dragons scored on 58 minutes.
Scrum-half Charlene Nicolson was hauled down just short of the posts before the ball was recycled to allow Hannah Cursiter to score in her record 50th appearance for the club.
Scollie converted to narrow the gap to 21-14.
A couple of minutes later the Dragons were again regrouping under their own posts.
In the move of the day, full-back Barnard made the hard yards before the Krakens worked the ball left to right to left with Smith sending centre Lauren Gunn on a run to score in the corner.
The home side underlined their dominance with two more from the irrepressible Smith.
Barnard goaled the first to finish with eight points from the boot.
Stand-in Orkney coach Don Tualasea said: "We just weren't good enough on the day and it was clear that they wanted it more than we did.
"Fair play to Caithness, who have improved a great deal since we played them earlier in the season."
Krakens coach Mike Flavell was as pleased with the performance as the win.
He said: "It also gets the monkey off our back of never having beaten Orkney.
"I thought we thoroughly deserved the win. We had the lion's share of the territory and possession and I thought we scored a couple of really nice tries.
"I also thought our defence was excellent – our line speed was good and we put a lot of pressure on them and forced a lot of errors."
Looking towards Saturday's showdown with Strathmore, Flavell said: "They are a decent side but we should have nothing to fear against them if we front up like we did on Sunday.
"We have never played them so don't know how they will play but we will be concentrating on playing to our strengths."
The Caithness men's Evergreens are set to make their first appearance of the season at the 11th Golden Oldies Festival in Dunfermline on Saturday.
