Two wins out of two in National Bowl for hard-working Krakens
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Caithness Krakens made it two wins out of two in their National Bowl Caley pool after they scored 46 points without reply against Dundee Valkyries 2nds.
The visitors ran in four tries in each half on Saturday against the Dundee second string, who were making their second competitive appearance.
The Krakens held the upper hand throughout on a windy but warm afternoon at Alloway Place Campus.
After a 5.30am start, they could have been forgiven for taking a while to settle into the contest but they were quickly out of the blocks.
Within five minutes, flanker Donna Edwards had fended off several would-be tacklers to power over for the opening try, converted by Megan Douglas.
Centre Olivia Henderson, who missed her side's 96-12 rout of Fraserburgh, then finished off two well-worked moves before skipper Emmie Smith grabbed the fourth just before half-time.
Prop Shauna Malcolm was next to strike with an individual effort before number eight Smith was sent clear to cross midway through the half.
Against a tiring, overworked defence, Smith and Henderson went on to each complete their hat-tricks of tries.
Douglas nailed a second conversion before she was forced off with a leg injury.
Henderson completed the scoring when she goaled her third touchdown.
The Krakens had two other casualties, with Edwards and Smith both suffering head knocks.
Anja Johnston, herself recovering from injury, stood in as coach in the absence of Mike Flavell, who was on international spectating duty in Rome.
She was keen to praise their opponents for the spirit they showed throughout the contest.
"They put up a great fight and made us work hard for every single point we got," she said.
Johnston was particularly happy to see a big improvement in the Krakens' performance at the rucks.
"It's something we've been working on since the Fraserburgh game and on Saturday our clear-outs were much better and it was good to see us winning a few turnovers.
"There was also some really good linking play and our backs were really good at recognising where the space was and in making the call when to move the ball wide."
The Krakens next play Aberdeen Quines away on April 2 in the third of their four pool matches.
Caithness 2nds' scheduled trip to play Deeside in Caley Division 4 North on Saturday was called off as both camps had team-raising problems. It is now due to be played on April 2.
The two other title contenders, Dyce and Highland 3rd XV, played out the rarest of rugby results, a 0-0 draw, in the Granite City.
The result leaves the Yellows best placed to claim the honours, though to do so they will almost certainly require to win their two remaining fixtures. The first of those is away to Dyce on March 26.
