Highland urged to focus on prize of Murrayfield ahead of National Shield semi-final
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HIGHLAND have been urged to focus on the prize of a trip to Murrayfield if they win their National Shield semi-final tomorrow.
North Berwick lie in the way of the Highland juggernaut and head coach Dave Carson is confident a final at the national stadium will be enough to focus players’ minds.
Unbeaten so far this season, having surrendered just 45 points in BT Caledonia League Division One, Highland are understandably in good spirits for their four-hour trip to the capital. Saturday’s opponents are in no bad shape themselves, having lost just once in the East Regional League Division One this season and still in with a chance of promotion.
While labelling this as the biggest game of the players’ careers, Carson says it could easily apply to any of the games over the next month, with a national final and promotion at stake.
But there is only one opportunity to play at Murrayfield.
“There’s a huge prize at the end of it and it would be a great end to the season,” said Carson. “Since I came in three years ago this is the biggest game and it will certainly be the same for a lot of these guys’ careers.
“The boys want to keep winning because they’re used to it. It’s another game for them to do the business and they love it just now, as it’s better than fighting relegation or having nothing to play for. The mood around the team has been fantastic this week and we’ve had to hold them back a bit in training.”
A full-strength squad will travel on Saturday morning, with Rory Cross expected to shake off a hamstring injury to be available. The luxury Carson has this weekend is that he is able to name seven on the substitutes bench, rather than the four permitted in league competition. The only dilemma left for the Highland coach was to whittle down his selection choices to 22, with the second XV also in action against Peterhead this weekend.
Despite Highland making an impact on the national stage, Carson still feels there is some resentment towards teams from the north of Scotland. However, the example set by Orkney, who won Division One last season and currently sit fifth in National League Three, highlights the sport’s growing force north of Perth.
“Up north there’s realisation of the good job we’re doing and hopefully some folk in the central belt will soon see that,” said Carson. “They’ll say they’ve got no problem (with teams from the north) but there always seems to be something.
“You only have to look at the amount of call-offs all our teams have had because teams don’t want to travel – we don’t moan about having to do it. If you want to play rugby up here you have to travel. Just look at Orkney. Other clubs could treat it as a day out, be positive about it rather than turning it into a trial.”
Carson added that the current success is a culmination of work over the last five years, which saw an overhaul of the club’s coaching set-up and the rejuvenation of the first XV.
“The juniors have always gone well but it makes a massive difference having the firsts playing well because it lifts the whole club,” he said.
The important games keep coming and in the next two weekends Highland travel away to play Glenrothes and then Gordonians, with victories more or less giving Highland the league title.
Meanwhile the 2nd XV travel to Peterhead and although they will be short of a few regulars, the squad is still likely to be too strong for the home side. A win is important to stay ahead of Banff, who have a difficult trip to play Aberdeenshire 3rd XV. Inverness Craig Dunain have a weekend off.
Also on Saturday the last of Highland’s junior sides still in cup competition sees the under-18s welcome Falkirk to Canal Park in the semi-final of the Caledonia Cup. On Sunday the under-14s and under-13s travel to Aberdeen Wanderers while the Mini P6
