Highland maintain impressive start to new campaign
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Four tries from Andrew Findlater, taking him to seven for the season, set the hosts on their way in the club’s home opener at Canal Park.
Highland started strongly and kept the visitors penned into their own half for the first quarter. The only relief for Caithness came from the set-pieces, an edge in the scrums and competing well in the line-outs.
This was not enough to survive the pressure from the home side and on 12 minutes with the ball secured on the opposition 22 a quick ball out wide saw Craig Findlater in at the corner. Highland kept up the pressure and again from the scrum a few minutes later a move down the blind side saw Andrew Findlater break through. Scott Fraser slotted the conversion and it was 12-0.
Caithness rallied somewhat and their back-row did a lot of work to shore up the midfield, which frustrated Highland attacks. But when Highland moved the ball quickly through the hands they were always under threat. On 29 minutes it was Andrew Findlater once again scoring, going down on the ball once the maul went over the line.
Highland’s eye was now on the bonus point with a fourth try and a bit of concentration was lost, making it easier for Caithness to weather the pressure. The home side slowly got back on track and the fourth try came from going wide again. A midfield ruck saw the ball released quickly and Rory Cross collected the ball to slice through the visitor’s defence and score near the posts. Fraser’s conversion saw Highland reach half-time 24-0 in the lead.
In the second-half Caithness came out fighting and with the benefit of a large bench, due to so many being front row capable they certainly made an impact. The visitors penned Highland back into their own half for a change with some strong tackling required to keep them out. After 14 minutes they pushed a maul towards the line for a converted score. Highland responded and again Andrew Findlater peeled off and burst through to score an unconverted try, his third, and it was now 29-7.
The hosts picked up a sixth try and Andrew Findlater’s fourth by sticking to the task and another drive opening up a gap for him. Petty infringements kept coming and it was Highland who suffered from the referee’s patience running out and Findlater picked up a yellow card, sitting out the rest of the game.
Coach Dave Carson was very pleased by the work his squad put in and against an aggressive pack. He will want to see the discipline improve and although the front row did okay, it is certainly missing regular props Stuart Watson and Jonny Milton.
The result has kept Highland’s season on track and the full set of results from BT Caledonia League Division One sees a familiar look with Gordonians, Glenrothes and Highland being the front runners.
The junior squads were in President’s Conference action and this time Stirling County were the weekend opposition. The under-18s had a difficult task against a very big County side yet took the lead through quick ball from Euan Milton, converted by Cameron Grant for a 7-0 lead.
However, County slowly took control and by the break they led 13-7. From the restart the play was evenly balanced with Fraser MacLennan touching down in reply to a County try, but Highland could not turn the match around.
The rest of the junior sides played Stirling County on Sunday. At Canal Park the under-16s won 38-23 while the under-15s had a tough time going down 61-5. Travelling to Bridgehaugh Park, the under-14s lost 30-14 and the under-13s went down 35-0.
