Late surge books Greens into last four
Gordonians 25 - Caithness 34
THE Greens progressed to the last four of the RBS Caledonian Shield on Saturday after toughing out a nip-and-tuck encounter at Countesswells.
A reshaped line-out, featuring new centre and back row partnerships, started well but failed to break free from a dogged city outfit. Ten points all at half-time, the sides went on to trade scores before an unanswered burst of scoring in the final 15 minutes swung the tie in favour of the visitors.
"We started off very well," said coach Colin Sangster. "We had a lot of the ball and were dominating territory and we should have scored more points."
The coach was happy to note the perseverance of his troops in the face of them failing to get the reward their industry deserved.
"In the past, we would have become frustrated and lost the initiative but we showed a bit of patience and eventually the points started to come."
Regular scrum half Graham Fryer wore the number six shirt for the first time as if he had played in the position all his career. As well as scoring the Greens’ first try, he was a feisty presence in the loose, winning a clutch of steals and dovetailing well with openside Stevie Campbell.
Fly half Liam Brims scored five points from boot as the first half finished all square.
Centres David McCarthy and Gordie Macleod both touched down to put the Greens 27-24 in front, going into the last quarter. The clinching score came from hooker Hamish Coghill, who spent the second half in the back row after trading places with Campbell. Brims converted to finish the day with 14 points from four conversions and two
penalties.
Sangster said: "It was a really satisfying win and one which I hope we can take a lot of confidence from."
Caithness – G. Mackay, A. Nicolson, G. Macleod, D. McCarthy, D. Webster, L. Brims, K. Hamilton, C. Smith, H. Coghill, J. Miller, R. Coghill, G. Anderson, G. Fryer, E. Sutherland, S. Campbell (cpt). Replacements (used) – B. Stewart and L. Stewart.