HIGHLAND’S first-team had their Caledonia Regional League Division One match at Gordonians postponed due to a frozen pitch as the freezing conditions affected many of the weekend’s fixtures.
This postponement extends a fixture break to two Saturday’s as the Six Nations starts this weekend with Scotland hosting rivals England at Murrayfield.
Highland’s director of rugby Hugh Mackintosh will be hoping that the rescheduling means his side are likely be playing in far better conditions in late March, something that is bound to aid the Greens cause.
Highland, however, do not want any more fixtures postponed as the club is relaunching the Highland 7’s tournament for Saturday 21st April and it will not want held over league fixtures to get in the way of what is a major event for the club.
Fortunately for the Reds, the frost was not a problem in the Highland Capital as they got their fixture with Strathspey played, running out 33-0 winners.
The squad included four first-team players in need of a run out to build match fitness, although the man of the match was Reds regular BJ Cameron, closely followed by fine performances from Fijian backs Varisoko Vunibobo and Rupeni Rokoduguni.
An understrength Strathspey battled all the way and in the last 10 minutes they were simply denied by strong Highland defending to stop any score for the visitors.
The win for the Reds ends Strathspey’s title challenge and keeps Highland clear at the top of Caledonia Regional League Division Three North/West, although Stornoway remain very much in the hunt.
With only five teams making up this division, however, the clubs play each other three times and the Reds still have a game against Ross Sutherland and home and away fixtures with title hopefuls Stornoway.
Depending on how each team’s points add up, the Reds may still have to beat Stornoway in both matches in order to clinch the championship.
