Promotion the target for ambitious Highland side
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PROMOTION is the bare minimum Dave Carson expects from his Highland troops this season.
After running eventual winners Orkney close over the second half of last season, in which Highland went unbeaten, Carson wants the Canal Park side to climb out of the BT Caledonia League Division One this year.
Highland fell short of the islanders by five points in April, despite turning them over 26-10 in Inverness a month earlier. Carson said it was hard to be disappointed with their final placing, given that it was their first season at the top level of north rugby.
But with a year’s experience under their belts, promotion is the target for a young squad hungry for success.
“The boys are desperate to go up, without a doubt. We started the last six games with seven under-20 players in the side and they’re only going to get better,” said Carson, who is starting his third season in charge.
“We’ve got a few experienced heads coming back and if we get off to a better start than last year, there’s nothing stopping us.”
The club welcomes back forwards Paddy Brown, who has returned from a year in the Far East, and Andrew Findlater, the brother of Highland regular Craig who has returned from university. Long-term injury victims Tam Magowan (wrist) and Craig Little (hamstring) are also back training, with the hope they are ready for the end of September.
Carson’s side begin their pre-season contests this afternoon at home to Kirkcaldy, with the game to be broken up into four 20-minute periods to allow squad rotation. Oban Lorne, Edinburgh Accies, Ross Sutherland and Perthshire complete the pre-season fixture list, ahead of Highland’s first league game, away to Strathmore, on 5th September.
Training numbers for the Inverness side have been impressive, with 35 turning up on Tuesday night with 10 more unable to make it.
“Hopefully we’ll have big squads this year, including the seconds who have just got promoted themselves,” added Carson. “It’s been really good because usually at this time of year, you always worry about getting guys turning up.”
