Carson readies Highland for Gordonians 'acid test'
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FACING league-leaders Gordonians will provide Highland with a real acid test of their league ambitions, according to head coach Dave Carson.
The Inverness club travel to Aberdeen for a match that could have a big bearing on this season’s league title race.
Gordonians are the only unbeaten side left in the league and recently overtook the early-frontrunners Glenrothes.
But with his promoted Highland squad continuing last season’s form, Carson expects tomorrow’s fixture to be a true marker of how far the team can go.
"They’ve been doing well and beating sides comfortably. But we had a great win last Saturday and we’re quite confident," he said.
"It’s a real test for us because they’re at home and they’ll have a decent crowd behind them. We know how difficult it’s going to be.
"We had it quite easy last year so it was always going to take a couple of games, moving up the leagues, to gauge how well we could do. Our first aims were to stay in the league and reach the top six, but with the start we’ve had there’s no telling how far we can go."
Coach Carson has seen the injury list stop growing and now has players steadily coming back to join the squad, alongside a good number of new faces.
Darren Macleod came off the bench last Saturday and seems to be clear of his injury and he joins winger Craig Findlater as Highland’s attacking edge. Jamie MacPherson made a good debut at full-back and gives Highland a solid back three for defence and attack.
Another newcomer, Francois Du Toit, showed up well at centre and Carson believes his return represents perfect timing.
"He was unfortunate to break his ribs back in pre-season and we were happy for him to get his first half last week," he said. "With Matty Allan being out, he will slot in quite nicely alongside Craig Irvine at centre.
"Frank has played rugby all over the world, so it’s great to have that kind of experience in the squad.
"We’re still 10 players off the cup final squad but the injury situation is improving. That’s been the only downside this season."
Highland’s pack looks very solid and was given a good workout against a very competitive Strathmore pack last weekend. This will have been good preparation for Saturday’s task as they need to be at their best to support the backs and provide ball.
Out wide is possibly where the game will be decided and Highland’s reinforced back line might have the edge if they can maintain a strong defence. If Highland can also reduce the penalty count then the result might just see them emerge as the new league leaders.
A number of young players have made the transition in to the first-team this season and while it has taken time for some to adjust to the higher-tempo, Carson believes they have big futures ahead of them.
"The under-18s are going so well this season and the guys coming up from there are of a good standard," he said. "It is a wee bit quicker in the first-team however and it can take the boys a few games to get used to that.
"We kept seven under-18s on from last year, which is quite unheard of at this level."
The under-18’s have had a fantastic unbeaten league
start and with most of the other junior sides have a
weekend off, leaving just the under-16s in action this weekend.
Highland are currently clear league-leaders and they have the benefit of home advantage against Orkney on Sunday.
This fixture is always a close encounter and the home side will not want to take anything for granted despite the islander’s slow start to the season.
Highland’s Mini and Micro sections have the usual 11am Sunday morning training sessions. There was good news with Calum MacPherson being selected for the Caledonian under-16 squad that will play Borders this Sunday and former Highland under-18 Bruce Flockhart, now at Strathallan School, selected to join the squad of 42 players taking part in three training camps for the Scotland under-18 squad.
