Greens aim to keep winning streak going
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HIGHLAND hope this weekend’s clash with league-leaders Orkney brings the six-factor towards their promotion push.
Dave Carson’s side have won five from five since the turn of the year and a win against the would-be title winners tomorrow could well see Highland thrust back into promotion contention.
Saturday’s game promises to be an engaging encounter and Carson feels he has a reinforced squad capable of defeating the islanders.
Some valuable lessons were learnt from the defeat at Pickaquoy, with the midfield defence being addressed to prevent the likes of the three tries given away back in November.
One forced change for Carson is Craig Irvine coming in for the unavailable Ruaridh MacDonald, who was having a good run at stand-off.
Four other players return to the squad and are available for selection. Backs Craig Findlater and Richard Sim offer the experience too often missing this season and will nicely complement the excellent recent play of centre Rory Cross.
Also available are forwards Stuart MacDonald and Eamon Guinan, who give plenty of options for the pack’s back five.
With Highland likely to match the powerful island pack, these options could give the home side a vital edge in winning ball. With ball, Highland’s much stronger back line should be able to hold off the Orcadian attacks and provide plenty of scoring threats in return.
With a side looking more like it did last season, with the defensive kinks ironed out and playing the high tempo game of recent weeks, Carson is very confident that they can secure an important win. The game will kick-off at 1.00pm.
Highland’s under-16s get a taste of playing on a Saturday as they also face Orkney, who are travelling with their senior squad.
This will be the Highland youngsters’ last league fixture and it comes after an impressive 52-0 victory over Aberdeen Wanderers in the quarter-final of the Caledonia Cup.
The under-15s are waiting to play their last league fixture against Aberdeen Grammar, which will decide who will take the league title.
They are in good form as last weekend’s 59-5 cup quarter-final victory over Deeside proves.
Meanwhile, last Sunday, well over 250 five-to-11 year-olds attended the Micro and Mini Festival in glorious sunshine at Canal Park. Around 50 Micros from clubs including Highland, Ross-Sutherland and Caithness had a joint training session and runout.
In the P4 and P5 sections Highland Reds edged past Nairn, coached by former Highland player Sam Lean, in the semi-final before beating Huntly in a tough-tackling final that went to extra-time.
Adrian Smart warrants a mention for both attacking and defensive play.
The Greens had mixed results and improved as the festival progressed. Rhys Fairlie put in an extraordinary number of tackles in helping to win their final fame.
In the P6 and P7 section the Greens improved tenfold during the event and all deserve congratulations.
The Reds had a tough draw against older and much larger players but stuck in well, with Ollie Smith putting in a great tackle on probably the largest player in the festival.
The final was contested by Caithness and Huntly, with Huntly running out winners.
