Spirited show ends in defeat for Greens
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CAITHNESS 11
ABERDEENSHIRE 21
THE Greens on Saturday suffered another narrow defeat to consign them to the foothills of Caley Division 1.
Had they cashed in on all the clear try-scoring opportunities that came their way, they would doubtless have topped the league leaders. But their emulation of Scotland’s well-documented Achilles heel allowed Shire to avenge the two defeats they suffered on their sorties to Millbank last season.
Caithness were never ahead but were always in touch with their opponents and a converted try midway through the second half sparked hopes of them overhauling the city side. But the effort fizzled out and Shire’s Gavin Cunningham kicked a penalty to secure the 21-11 win for his side.
With the Greens shorn of two of their normal front row, it was always going to be a tough battle in the set scrums for the young home pack. After this area being dominant throughout the season, the boot was very much on the other foot on Saturday.
The Greens, however, showed plenty of spirit and enjoyed parity of possession, thanks to their hard-working back row.
The three-quarters also showed plenty of enterprise, flair in attack and mettle in defence.
The return of last year’s vice-captain and fullback, Blair McIntosh, provided a welcome steadying influence.
After Cunningham and home fly-half Liam Brims exchanged penalties, Shire drew ahead through a converted try. Brims’ second successful kick narrowed their interval lead to 10-6.
Caithness passed up two glaring opportunities to cross the line when two overlaps were not executed.
The visitors capitalised on a strong start to the second half when they grabbed an unconverted try and penalty to establish an 18-6 advantage.
The Greens battled back and a good spell of pressure led to Craig Spargo going over for his second try of the season.
A flowing move ended with the winger taking number eight Evan Sutherland’s pass to survive a flailing, high tackle before dotting down in the corner. Brims was unable to land the touchline conversion.
Caithness missed a good chance and another two-on-one opportunity was spurned when centre James Sinclair opted to go it alone.
Cunningham’s fourth successful kick of the day took Shire clear.
Caithness coach Donald MacIntosh emerged disappointed in defeat but buoyed by an improved display.
“We had a lot of young, inexperienced guys who did well and I thought there was very little in the game. We failed to finish three clear-cut scoring opportunities – had we done so, we would have finished up on top.”
MacIntosh was impressed with the level of commitment, which he said was raised a couple of notches from the uninspiring defeat versus Highland the previous week.
He said: “The work rate was a lot better and I thought our backs played very well – their handling was good and they worked very hard in defence. I couldn’t fault them for effort.”
Caithness: B. McIntosh, M. Oswald, G. Poke, J. Sinclair, C. Spargo, L. Brims, G. Macleod, M. Nicolson, H. Coghill, M. Gunn, J. Miller, S. McIntosh, P. Nicolson, E. Sutherland, R. Coghill. Replacements used: D. Nicolson, R. Pottinger and D. McCarthy.
Referee: R. Innes.
CAITHNESS head for Tillicoultry tomorrow to play a Hillfoots side which has won all four of its Caley Division 1 home ties.
The Greens have made a faltering start to their campaign with a big turnover in personnel not helping their cause.
Once again, their preparations for this weekend have been disrupted by a mixture of injuries and work and other commitments.
Skipper Sinclair Dunnett is best man at a wedding in Northern Ireland while James Sinclair, Norman Foubister and James Sinclair are back offshore.
Marc Anderson remains sidelined through injury while Graham Poke faces a late fitness test after receiving a bang on the ribs last Saturday.
On the plus side, Michael Duffy is fit to return while Colin Smith is back in training with his presence set to increase the front-row options.
Blair McIntosh is also available to resume at fullback.
Hillfoots on Saturday scored their first away success of the season – a 29-18 win in Glenrothes.
A resurgent Gordonians scored an excellent 29-18 victory over Highland in Inverness while Orkney edged to a 17-16 home win versus Strathmore.
In the other match, Mackie Academy FPs defeated Aberdeen University 23-15.
