Make-or-break for Highland's title hopes
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TITLE ambitions live and die with this weekend’s contest against Glenrothes for Highland head coach Dave Carson.
Highland got back into league action after a three-week layoff last weekend and ground out an 18-8 win over lowly Morgan Academy.
However, the Canal Park side face a much tougher test tomorrow with the visit of Glenrothes to Inverness, a side two places and seven points above them in the Caledonia League Division One table.
Carson’s side lost by two points to the title-chasers at the beginning of September and he knows to keep their own title ambitions in tact, Highland need to come away with the victory.
"We’ve lost three games now but we’ve got the three big sides all to come to Canal Park," said Carson. "There’s three big results to be had in those games.
"We’ve not got an easy run-in but we’ve got the sides at the bottom of the table all away from home. It’s definitely make-or-break time for us to go for the title."
The game against Glenrothes is the first home match against one of the top three, the right results in these games will gradually pull Highland back into firm contention. The Inverness side have moved on a great deal with a new squad that continually sees itself reinforced with players returning from injury.
The pack will once again be at full strength with good options on the bench and will be a good match for their opposition with Carson looking for the basis of a win coming from them. The backs have suffered from injuries that has denied them key personnel and the attacking potential that worried so many sides last season. This sees Carson leaving selection until after training on Thursday but can look forward to Craig Findlater returning, James Taylor and possibly Scott Fraser if back from university.
Carson has one game after tomorrow before the Christmas break then a home fixture against league-leaders Orkney on the 10th January.
"It will be a baptism of fire for us right after the break," he said. "It’s frustrating because we had three weekends without a game then we’ve got another two weeks off after next weekend.
"You could see against Morgan there was a bit of rustiness to shake off. We can’t afford to have that against Glenrothes, who get a great result against Caithness last weekend. They beat us earlier in the season with a last minute try and we’ll be looking to reverse that."
The 2nd XV are still short of match time and will hope they can take to the field this Saturday with the visit of Aberdeen Wanderers 2nd XV. A lot of fringe players need games and coaches James Hay and Alastair McKenzie are keen to see their squad add to their win in the league.
The under-18s are now off league duty until the new year but there is plenty going on to interest them over the next two weekends. The only side that can draw level with Highland are Currie and they have two tough away fixtures that could see Highland handed an early Christmas present.
On Sunday the under-16s and under-15s are at home for league fixtures against Aberdeen Grammar. Both matches are vital for the young squads to maintain their chase for the league titles. The Minis and Micros sections also have their usual 11am training sessions.
