Krakens seal place in last four of National Plate after hard-earned victory
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The Krakens sealed their place in the last four of the National Plate with a hard-earned 29-12 victory over Lochaber at Millbank.
They turned on the style after a sterile first-half display to prevail in Saturday's Pool D decider.
The sides went into the game having won their respective opening two matches against Dundee Valkyries Seconds and Bannockburn.
The Fort William outfit, in their debut league season, proved dogged opponents and were probably hard done by to trail 12-5 at the interval.
The Krakens saw most of the ball in the opening half-hour but struggled to make serious inroads on a well-marshalled defence.
Their threats rarely came from concerted phased attacks and more from individual line breaks from full-back Caitlin Harvey and number eight Ellie Anderson.
They broke the deadlock on 31 minutes when Harvey was the last link in the chain in a sweeping left-to-right move.
She would have crossed had she not been taken out by a high tackle from Eilidh Towers.
Referee Paul Stewart awarded a penalty try and yellow-carded the visiting scrum-half.
Within two minutes, Lochaber struck back with a well-earned unconverted try.
Fly-half Lynsday Waterson made the crucial break, presaging a goal-line siege from which prop Ali Tait drove over.
Emmy Smith's introduction from the bench gave the Krakens some much-needed extra go-forward.
Two minutes from half-time she picked up from the base of a scrum five and forced her way over.
The Krakens were much more cohesive and dynamic after the interval, with a cutting edge added to their attacks.
Within seven minutes they added two tries to race to a 24-5 advantage.
They took advantage of Lochaber's disarray after conceding an offside penalty on their 22, with Smith powering over for her second of the afternoon, converted by Megan Douglas.
Smith then turned provider as she fed Emily Flavell to cross before completing her hat-trick of touchdowns.
The visitors enjoyed a dominant 10-minute spell when they were stationed in the Krakens' 22.
Loosehead Dale Thomson eventually found a gap to burrow over. Full-back Emily Brown added the extras.
Lochaber co-coach Hamish White said: "I was quite happy with how the first half went when I thought we competed very well.
"Caithness definitely picked up their game in the second when they started to get round the edges and making good ground before spreading it wide.
"We gave away too many penalties which meant we struggled for momentum.
"Overall, I was very pleased with our effort against a good side who had a fair bit more experience than us in key positions."
Krakens coach Mike Flavell was at a loss to account for his side's underwhelming first half.
"We had lots of possession but weren't doing anything with it," he said. "Our handling was sloppy, we were slow to react and we struggled to make inroads.
"Emmy's arrival gave us a bit more momentum, and in the second half I thought we played really well – some of the best rugby we've played.
"We gave away too many penalties in the last 10 minutes when they were pounding our line for long spells. I was impressed with our defensive sets when we absorbed a lot of pressure and kept them out."
Flavell's side now await their opponents in the semi-final of the National Plate, which comprises sides in regional divisions 2 and 3.
He is looking to fix up at least one friendly in the meantime to keep them ticking over.
The only other side to book their place are Perthshire.
The final takes place in Scottish Rugby's end-of-season Silver Saturday at Murrayfield on April 27.
Caithness trio named in Scotland junior squads
Three female Caithness rugby players have been named in the latest Scotland junior international squads.
Tamzin Rosie has been selected for the under-18s and Carla Edwards and Sarah Manson have won call-ups to the under-16s.
They are the latest national honours to come the way of the girls' and young women's sections run by Sinclair Dunnett.
Sixteen-year-old scrum-half Tamzin has been in Caley North under-16 and under-18s squads, who play in the Scottish inter-district round-robin tournament.
Coach Dunnett said: "Tamzin has progressed through from the minis and very rarely misses a training session.
"She may not be the biggest but that doesn't stop her on the pitch as she'll make every tackle she faces.
"Her work rate is immense and she always gives it her all."
Tamzin, from Reiss, is the only member of a club from the Highlands and Islands in the 30-strong squad.
The Wick High pupil follows in the footsteps of Sinclair's daughter Hannah, who played for Scotland under-18s last season.
Also in this year's squad is Hillhead Jordanhill's Rianna Darroch, who has in the past played for Caithness and Highland.
This year's Six Nations festival takes place at Stadiwm CSM in Colwyn Bay in North Wales between March 29 and April 5.
Scotland will play 35-minute matches against France, Wales, England and Italy before finishing with a 70-minute match against Ireland.
Carla, from Wick, and Sarah, from Thurso, were earlier this week named in the national under-16 squad after impressing for Caley North in the age group's inter-district competition.
Carla, also a scrum-half, has played since she was a mini. Sarah, a prop, took up the game two seasons ago.
Dunnett said: "I'm absolutely delighted they have been selected for the squads.
"All of them work very hard and are very easy to coach."
Caithness girls' under-16s, meanwhile, defeated Lochaber 50-0 at Millbank on Sunday to qualify for the semi-finals of the Saltire Energy Caledonia Cup. They next meet Perthshire away on Sunday.
Caithness under-18s have already reached the last four of the Caley Cup, where they face Garioch.
