Highland round off pre-season with resounding victory
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DAVE Carson got exactly what he wanted from his players as they put in a fine all-round display to defeat Perthshire 34-19 at North Inch.
This completes the three pre-season matches against higher level opposition and Highland’s hard work has earned them two victories out of three. Even though they lost against Edinburgh Accies, the experience gained and the lessons learned was used to good advantage on Saturday.
The match started with Highland playing a fast, high tempo game that the home side struggled to match. The play for the visitors was well directed by Scott Fraser at stand-off and he continually put the ball into space or turned the Perthshire line so that Highland were always going forward.
The pressure told and Highland notched up two tries from Callum Carson and Stuart MacDonald with a single conversion from Fionnlagh Call for a 12-7 half-time lead.
In the second-half Highland’s advantage increased, thanks to the pre-season fitness sessions of Andrew Begg and Colin Baillie MBE. This saw Highland kept up the fast pace and edged well ahead of the home side. Back row forward Andrew Findlater scored a brace of tries and there came one apiece from former under-18s Harrison Wright and Iain Crush, each making their senior debuts. A single conversion was added by Call for a final score of 34-19
This was just the game that Carson wanted with the squad building on the lessons from play and the stiff fitness sessions. A very young back division played very well alongside the experience pack and although stand-off Fraser controlled much of the game, the whole side played well.
Highland now have a weekend off before the league starts and they will be able to recover from any knocks carried. With a full squad available and just a few things to brush up on in the set pieces, the season beckons.
The under-18s did not travel to Perth as their match was postponed.
