Misfiring attack deals Greens a blow
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CAITHNESS ........................17
STRATHMORE ................... 30
DEFEAT for the Greens on Saturday deals a blow to their ambitions of being in the shake-up in the newly formed RBS Caledonia 1 League.
The reverse versus well-drilled, if unformidable, opponents was sustained as much through basic failures in defence as a blunt, misfiring attack.
The Caithness faithful were to suffer a double dose of angst after watching Scotland’s excruciating World Cup defeat to Argentina the following morning. Andy Robinson attributed the single-point loss to "30 seconds of madness".
The Scotland coach’s Caithness counterpart, Donald MacIntosh, would be able to point to much longer portions of the Millbank clash when his side was not so much mad as downright bad.
In a match soured by a nasty leg injury incurred late on by home scrum half Graham Fryer, Caithness were unable to capitalise on their scrummage domination. Their three tries all stemmed from close-in setpieces in which the Strathmore eight were driven towards and over their own line.
It was a major advantage which the Greens were unable to emulate in other crucial facets of play.
Notably, they were too often made to play second fiddle in the aftermath to tackles – whether through solo attackers becoming isolated or a failure to prevent opponents coming through to lay hands on the ball.
Greens’ attacks too often looked predictable with a lack of penetrative runners cutting angles from deep. A lack of line speed and shape in their defence and an unacceptable number of one-on-one tackles missed played a big part in the points conceded.
Within the opening quarter, Strathmore had racked up a 13-0 lead. Gary Wood kicked two penalties in between converting a try from right-winger Dave Smith.
The Greens were ahead in terms of possession and territory but were unable to seriously stretch their opponents’ defensive lines.
That changed with an intense period of unremitting attrition when the Forfar outfit was penned between its five-metre and try lines.
It was sparked by a rare, flowing attack which ended with full-back Graham Poke cut down in full flight in front of the posts.
There followed a succession of close-in scrums which had the visitors in all sorts of difficulties.
From one, number eight Evan Sutherland knocked on as he sought to ground the ball after the opposing pack had splintered.
A penalty had already been awarded and from a reset scrum, Sutherland made no mistake with a pick-up and grounding.
Liam Brims struck the nearside upright with his conversion attempt.
Strathmore drew further ahead five minutes from half-time when a box kick from Wood was allowed to bounce in the opposing 22 and Smith won the race to touch down as the ball rolled in-goal. Wood converted to put the visitors 20-5 up.
The Greens finished the half strongly and were unfortunate not to complete a series of strong carries from Norman Foubister, John Miller and Roddy Gray.
Turning round to play with the wind on their backs, the Greens would have nurtured realistic hopes of a recovery.
These were undermined within a minute of the resumption when centre James Kiely scythed through the Greens’ midfield before executing a two-one to send full-back Stuart Ross in for a try, improved by Wood.
Another incisive break by Kiely, aided by some powder-puff would-be tackles, created an overlap on the left. This time, the opportunity was spurned with Gray’s interception preventing a certain try.
Caithness went on to inflict
another spell of scrum mastery over their opponents near their line.
Bannockburn ref John Jaffary showed an extraordinary degree of leniency in failing to mark a run of seven or eight penalties with either a yellow card or a penalty try.
After the latest in a series of Strathmore scrum implosions, Mr Jaffray finally went behind the posts. Brims added the extras.
Caithness: G. Poke, G. Macleod, N. Foubister, N. Smith, P. Nicolson, L. Brims, G. Fryer, S. Dunnett (captain), H. Coghill, T. Sutherland, J. Miller, R. Gray, D. Pottinger, E. Sutherland, R. Coghill. Replacements (used): M. Nicolson and R. Pottinger.
Strathmore: S. Ross, B. Marshall, J. Kiely, G. Langlands, D. Smith, L. Knox, Gary Wood, K. Mitchell (captain), T. Malkowski, D. Hampton, S. Gray, F. Cameron, C. Nicol, D. Milne, J. Yarr. Replacements (all used): G. Durward, D. Carghill and S. Tosh.
Referee: J. Jaffary.
