Quality tells in Henderson Trophy game
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
THE difference in quality between Highland and Ross Sutherland was clearly evident as the side from National Division Two ran out comfortable 54-22 winners against their opponents from Caledonia Division One.
The Greens ended what has been a mixed campaign by triumphing in this annual encounter to return to Inverness with the Jack Henderson Trophy.
Despite the disparity in standards between the two teams, the fine weather allowed both sides to play some good rugby throughout this well-contested encounter.
The home side never let up and took advantage of Highland’s errors to notch up some points. Highland led three tries to one at half-time and they pulled away after the restart as their fitness told.
Highland’s points came from tries by Ross Temple, Emosi Naisaramaki, Rory Cross, Dave Titteringham and two apiece for Euan MacKenzie and Andrew Findlater. All but one were converted by Craig Irvine.
It was the final match in charge of the Greens for long-serving coach Hugh Mackintosh, who will step down from this position after four years at the helm.
Mackintosh, however, is planning to still be involved in some capacity at Highland next season, but has yet to decide what he will do.
A strong first half to the season had the Greens challenging for promotion, but an enforced winter break did not help the cause of Mackintosh and his players, who fell away during the latter part of the campaign.
The loss of key players such as Richard Sim and Paddy Bryden were further blows, as was the departure of Richard Craig, which left the back division often short of numbers.
Highland, however, did end the season in fourth position after Glasgow Accies — the only team that could have caught them — lost their final fixture 19-14 to Allan Glen’s.
