Squad size is a concern for Krakens ahead of new season
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Caithness Krakens embark on a new season on Saturday when they host first-time opponents Moray.
Mike Flavell's team got off to a false start last weekend when scheduled visitors Fraserburgh called off as they could not raise a side.
Caithness were willing to have the game replayed but the north-east club could not identify another date so the Krakens were awarded five points for a walkover.
Previewing their third season in which they are competing in Caley North League 2, Flavell admitted the size of the squad is a concern.
"Quite a few from last season are not about, for one reason or another, whether through pregnancy, injury or having moved away," he said.
Among key absentees are highly rated centre Shannon Pasotti, who has joined the RAF in England, and all-action full-back Caitlin Harvey, who continues to be sidelined by a shoulder complaint.
"The numbers at pre-season training are not as good as we would have liked," the coach said.
"We've got a solid hard core of 12 and a good few others who have been unable to train regularly because of work or family commitments.
"I'm just hoping most of them will be available for games."
Their division is covered by the protocol that teams who come up against short-handed opponents have to reduce their number to match, as low as 10.
Flavell is confident he will have a full complement for the visit of Moray, who last year were in the Emerging League.
Moray's first outing last Saturday saw them lose 55-18 at home to Highland, among the latest clubs in the north to field a women's side.
Saturday's game at Millbank has a 2pm kick-off.
Caithness girls' under-18s were in action on Sunday in their latest involvement in the Inspiresport National League Division Two.
They are grouped with Falkirk, Stirling County and Murrayfield Wanderers, with each club scheduled to host four-way competitions.
Unfortunately, only Wanderers made the trip to Thurso, with the other clubs both calling off.
That resulted in local referee Paul Stewart taking charge for a 30-minute competitive game between Caithness and Wanderers, followed by a 30-minute development game.
Having drawn 12-12 at the session hosted in the capital the previous week, another competitive tussle was expected at Millbank.
The team, coached by Caithness RFC's new development officer Emmy Smith, were missing a few players against Murrayfield, who included several of this year's Scottish under-18 squad.
One of the latter, lock forward Talie Tawake, was impressive throughout with some strong, powerful carries and support play.
She ran in her side's third try after an early double from her engine-room partner Madison Borthwick.
Midway through the game, the hosts rallied and twice looked certain to score but first they failed to exploit a glaring overlap and then were held up in goal.
Caithness then fell victim to a long-range counter led by Tawake and finished off by scrum-half Nala Taoi, who added the conversion.
The final 10 minutes were dominated by the hosts, with tight forward Keira Nellies prominent with some big tackles and the backs looking threatening.
They got their reward when scrum-half Tamsin Rosie broke a couple of tackles to touch down and then add the extras to make the final score 22-7 in favour of the city side.
Smith said: "Unfortunately, we were missing a few who played the previous week but I thought we played pretty well once we got into our stride. There's a lot they can learn from the game."
