Krakens round off season with success in Orkney Sevens
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Caithness Krakens rounded off their season on a high when they took the spoils in the Orkney Sevens at the weekend.
They racked up three wins in the round-robin competition before repeating their victory over their hosts, Orkney Dragons, in the final.
The club travelled on Saturday morning with 15 players and entered two sides who competed along with two from Orkney.
Mike Flavell was able to draw on a strong pool which was boosted by the inclusion of his daughter Emily, who plays for Heriot's Blues, and Hannah Dunnett, fresh from her stint with Scottish under-18s.
First up for them were the Dragons, whom they comfortably accounted for 24-0.
Flavell said: "The start was pretty scrappy with quite a few dropped balls from both sides. But, once we got into our stride, we were well on top.
"We had plenty of pace with the likes of Carly Erridge, Emily and Hannah and we scored some nice tries.
"They had a couple of dangerous line breaks which Carly did really well to make up the ground and get her tackles in.
"Throughout the day, we were very good at getting our support player to the breakdown first."
Caithness "B" followed suit in the second game when they scored a 30-0 win over Orkney "A".
"They also played really well with some good support play and off-loading with Rhianna Mackay and Lauren Gunn running in a couple of tries each," the coach said.
Caithness "A" then dispatched Orkney "A" 38-0 before winning 31-5 against their "B" side.
With the Dragons comfortably accounting for Orkney "A" and Caithness "B", that set the stage for a rerun of the opening game in the final.
It proved a tighter contest but the Krakens had most of the possession and again they kept their try line unbreached.
Flavell, Erridge and Shannon Pasotti got their tries with Dunnett converting two to wrap up a 19-0 win.
Coach Flavell said: "It was a nice way to finish the season and we're now looking forward to our own Sevens at Millbank on August 12."
Krakens "A" squad: Helen Richard, Emmie Smith, Shannon Pasotti, Caitlin Flavell, Emily Flavell, Carly Erridge, Hannah Dunnett and Ellie Anderson.
"B" squad: Hazel Stewart, Carly Ferrier, Shauna Malcolm, Aileen Simmonite, Rhianna Mackay, Lauren Gunn and Ashley McLean.
The squad returned immediately after the tournament on the Pentalina ferry from St Margaret's Hope. It was on the return sailing from Gills that the vessel ran aground on the beach near the Orkney terminal, leading to the 60 passengers being taken ashore by lifeboat.
Caithness did not enter a side in the men's competition in Kirkwall.
Seconds and Evergreen regulars Russell Mill and George Sutherland guested for Orkney Auld Bulls, who won two of their three group games and ended up being beaten by Grangemouth Stags in the semi-finals of the plate.
The Stags were defeated 24-19 after extra time in the final by Ale Stars.
The main competition was won by Orkney, who defeated the 3 Scots regiment, based at Fort George, in the final.
The army outfit, who included a handful of Fijians, had gone in the tie unbeaten but found the hosts too hot to handle as they succumbed to a 31-12 defeat.
