Highland suffer narrow loss at Glenrothes
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HIGHLAND went down 24-22 in a close-fought encounter at Glenrothes in their season opener.
They travelled with a full complement of players but were still missing 10 of the side that defeated the same side in the National Bowl, whereas the home side were at full strength.
The visitors managed an early penalty from Scott Fraser for a 0-3 lead despite the scrappy nature of the play. Glenrothes came into the game and scored two tries, one converted, for a 12-3 lead.
Stephen Murray left the game with an ankle injury for Highland. Although this was a big loss, new addition to the squad Mattie Kennedy came in and played very well. This meant that both props had to play the rest of the match without any front row replacements.
Highland closed the gap with a fine try from Steven Rutledge, converted by Fraser, and it was 12-10 at the break.
Even though the visitors were in the game, they still were not settled in their play and in the second half they were penalised rather harshly, with Gareth High and then Tam Magowan yellow-carded.
From an interception Glenrothes used their numerical advantage to run in a converted try for 19-10.
Highland battled on and came back and a fine try from Eamon Guinan to close the score to 19-15.
Highland seemed to be mastering their discipline and continued their comeback when Magowan crossed over for a try which was converted by Craig Irvine, to put Highland back in the lead at 19-22.
However, indiscipline crept back in, along with some poor decision-making when trying to close out the match as the home side came back. Guinan was then yellow-carded for over-anxious play that prevented release.
The pressure was beginning to tell and from a scum near the Highland line Glenrothes scrum-half Michael Delorey put in a clever kick that was charged down by his winger for the winning score.
This was hard to bear for Highland coach Dave Carson as the win was so close. However, he is seeing a steady improvement in the play and can to look at a losing bonus point for their efforts. He is also seeing the youngsters and new recruits in the squad playing their part. The big issue now is maintaining discipline and this was certainly a factor in Saturday’s defeat.
The under-18s continued their good start to the season with an impressive 30-10 home win over a strong Dumfries side to make it two wins from two.
Despite facing another large pack, it was Highland who dominated from the start and with some fine ball retention they were able to see Ruari Casey into the corner for an unconverted try for a 5-0 lead.
Another three points came from Fionnlagh Call’s boot from a penalty when Dumfries failed to roll away from a tackle. The pressure was maintained and the home side’s solid scrum provided a good platform to attack.
Iain Crush dummied his way through and with the visitors’ defence floundering he touched down between the posts. A Call conversion gave Highland a 15-0 advantage.
Despite so much to admire up to this point, Highland’s play slackened off badly, through poor decisions and giving penalties away. As Highland struggled they also lost Will Davidson for 10 minutes after a late tackle.
Even though Dumfries had an advantage they couldn’t make it pay and they too lost a player for killing the ball.
The second half saw Highland restore their advantage and pressed home with several chances.
First Casey was stopped just short of the line, quickly followed by Call whose foot went into touch before he crossed. Next came Ewan Milton who seemed to go over but was judged to have been held up.
A score had to come and after a fine run from full-back Stephen Grant, a scrum near the line saw Milton make no mistake the second time as he picked up and drove over. Although Call couldn’t convert from out wide it was now 20-0.
Dumfries came back into the game with an unconverted try and it was now 20-5 before Cameron Beattie responded for Highland.
The visitors were still giving away silly penalties and Dumfries were able to capitalise with a second try to make it 25-10.
Some good passages of play were complemented by some fine individual moves including a good one from Calum Boyd who freed Call on the wing. He made a nice chip over the last defender and chased the ball down to score and conclude the scoring.
