Highland slip to home defeat
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Highland’s director of rugby, Hugh Mackintosh, will be very disappointed with this performance and will need to work hard at training this week to get his squad focused for the trip to Strathmore on Saturday.
This was a very lacklustre display from the Greens who on paper had a strong squad, but obvious errors — such as too many pick-ups from the base of the scrum, and little invention out wide which resulted in some poor chip kicks and missed tackles — were their undoing.
Highland did at least muster some sort of response in the latter stages, captain Ross Thompson managing an unconverted try, but it was too little, too late, as Gordonians claimed a deserved victory.
Irvine managed to kick a penalty for the home side, but this was a rare bright spot as yet another converted try put Gordonians out of sight, while also giving them a bonus point.
The Greens simply could not cope and the loss of a two more tries, one converted, gave the visitors a 19-10 advantage at the interval. The break did little to put Gordonians off their stride and the concession of a penalty allowed the scoreline to be increased to 22-10.
Highland enjoyed the advantage in the scrum, but were not as cohesive in other areas, while Gordonians were impressive in the lineout, which was nicely complimented by good rucking and mauling.
David Ramsay went over for a try that Craig Irvine converted to level the scores, before Irvine kicked a penalty to put the hosts 10-7 ahead.
Gordonians went in front early on with a converted try that put them 7-0 in front, but Highland produced the ideal response.
Boasting a very capable pack able to supply ball to their lively back division, the visitors also benefited from the Greens not being the sharpest in the tackle.
HIGHLAND’S hopes of stretching their unbeaten run to four games were dashed when they went down 29-18 to an efficient Gordonians at Canal Park.
