Yellows take silverware by a single point after high-scoring second leg
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Caithness Seconds capped their extended season by lifting a piece of silverware in Orkney on Saturday.
Their thrilling three-point victory in a high-scoring encounter against their island counterparts in Kirkwall was just enough to claim the Lyle Cup.
Competed on a two-legged basis, the trophy had been in Orkney's hands since the late 1980s and came out of mothballs last year after the Yellows emerged from prolonged hibernation.
Orkney went into the game with the advantage of a 17-15 win in Thurso in August.
But, after a late flurry of tries at either end on Saturday, they went down 56-53, giving Cameron Boyd's men the aggregate victory by a single point.
Caithness drew first blood with prop Aly Williams forcing his way over from close quarters.
Handling errors from Cameron Boyd's men gifted a couple of early tries but touchdowns by Ruaridh Mackay, Hamish Coghill (2) and Liam Flavell had the Yellows 25-24 ahead at the interval.
In a game where the lead changed hands eight times, the Orcadians looked to have struck the killer blow when Alan Monkman crossed to put his side 46-44 in front with four minutes left.
But Calum Atherton, the Yellows' free-running Aussie full-back, who had earlier bagged two touchdowns, added two more to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for the hosts.
The other points from the Yellows came from a Gary McPhee try and three conversions, two kicked by Flavell and one by Mackay.
Coach Boyd said: "I think we ended up playing 95 minutes and we had to survive a fair bit of pressure after the last try.
"It was really intense and the lads deserved the success as they all put in so much effort and quite a few of them were playing out of position."
He singled out Atherton for his work in defence as well as attack, while he said teenager Liam Flavell grew into his new role at fly-half.
"Ham [Hamish Coghill] carried and supported well throughout and it was great to see Gary getting his first try.
"It was a good overall team performance and nice to finish our season with a piece of silverware."
Caithness Evergreens were defeated 28-17 by Orkney Vikings in the second staging of the Come Ashore Cup.
The squads were piped onto the field at Pickaquoy for the charity clash for over-35-year-olds.
All the damage was done for the visitors in the first of the 20 minute thirds when they trailed 28-7.
The Evergreens added to George Sutherland's interception try with touchdowns by Stevie Campbell and James Mill but could not convert long spells of pressure in the final period to make further inroads.
The trophy was put up last year in memory of former Caithness player Alexander Mill, who died suddenly at his farm at Achscrabster, aged 45.
The proceeds from an auction and raffle auction on Saturday are to be shared between Farmstrong Scotland and Orkney Prostate Awareness.
