Caithness look to fly high against RAF Lossiemouth
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Caithness are hoping home advantage tomorrow can help them break their duck in the north conference of Caledonian League 1 when they take on RAF Lossiemouth at Millbank.
Their 45-12 loss to Mackie on Saturday was their second reverse on the road and next weekend they face another long haul to play Ellon.
Coach Kenny Russell believes their home record will be crucial in what is already shaping up to be a battle to stay up.
Russell missed the match in Stonehaven last Saturday as he was at a family function in Glasgow.
After being briefed by skipper Hamish Coghill, the coach drew encouragement from the way his troops had performed at Redcloak.
“It sounds similar to the Moray game” said Russell.
“We seem to have more than held our own in the first half and battled away in the second half, with three late scores when we were knackered, really flattering them.
“We went down with just 16 and I’m very proud of the guys for grafting right to the end.
“In the Moray game, we seemed to lose heart as they started piling on the points but they stuck to their guns on Saturday and made a real fight of it.”
The squad included veterans, prop John Elder, playing his first game for a year, and full back David McCarthy, who put in several try-saving tackles.
The only cover was provided by new front rower Gary McPhee, who came on after Duncan Mackay was forced off with a shoulder knock.
The Greens also had to operate with 14 men after Duncan MacMillan was sin-binned after they had conceded a series of penalties.
Russell said once again Caithness lacked a cutting edge to finish off promising sequences.
“We really need to take our chances when we work our way in the red zone.
“We work through the phases and get the field position but don’t capitalise.”
Looking ahead to the game, Russell again has major selection headaches, particularly in the back division.
Scrum half Euan MacDonald has recovered from injury but misses out because he is attending a stag do.
Stuart Crichton, Charlie Quinn, Scott Webster and Douglas Webster are also unavailable though Cameron Ryder will return if he passes a fitness test.
Mark Nicolson and Cole Wilson will add to the front row options while lock Kevin Budge and flanker Sinclair Bremner are set to return to action with kick off at 3pm.
The travails of the Firsts is having a knock-on effect on the Yellows, who tomorrow launch their Caley 2 Highlands and Islands conference campaign at Ross Sutherland.
