Highland to home in on points
Published: 17 November, 2007
HIGHLAND return to Inverness this Saturday when they entertain Glasgow Accies in a National League Division Two fixture at Canal Park (2pm).

This will be a tricky one for the hosts, but at least head coach Hugh Mackintosh will have a pretty big squad to select from.

The green and reds lost narrowly in the first game between the sides and will be keen to avenge for this defeat.

As this is the start of the second part of the league season, Highland must target maximum points from their home programme.

Mackintosh, at least, has the benefit of his senior squad having regular matches, so this helps the squad as they prepare for important fixtures such as this one.

Although Highland will be confident of victory against the Accies, history indicates they have rarely been convincing winners against the Glasgow club.

Last weekend, Highland came through a tough test at Stewartry on Saturday with three second half tries helping them score a 26-5 victory.

After falling 5-0 behind, the Inverness side responded with a Euan Ferguson try, which scrum half Patrick Boyer converted for a 7-5 interval lead.

With Drew Buxton at full-back, Highland were able to penetrate in the second half and Ferguson made it a treble of tries with two well-taken scores, while Buxton added a fourth for a bonus point.

Mackintosh made full use of his replacements, with Gareth High, Stevie Groat and Simon Stephen coming on in the latter stages.

The long-serving Kenny Cameron played alongside Paul Miller at lock in the first half and both had excellent games.

When Mackintosh moved Cameron to his preferred back row in the second half, he and Scott Mackenzie caused a few problems.

Craig Little also got a spell in his old scrum half position near the end of the game, which is a good policy in case positional changes may have to come later on in the season.

The result will be pleasing to Highland, who have been faced with the prospect of getting a regular replacement for vice captain Morris Dillon, who has decided to call it a day due to his shoulder dislocation.

Dillon is an up-and-coming physical education teacher and he needs to be in good shape for his day-to-day work.

He also can now revert to his other sporting activity, athletics, in which he is a excellent hurdler and jumper, having been a Scottish schools international.

It is hoped that Dillon will come into a coaching position with the club in the future.

Two seasons ago, he was the winner of the best all-round player in National Division Three, an honour well deserved for his forceful running and defence from full-back.

On Saturday, the Highland Greens, the club's reserves, lost a friendly

This article was posted on 16-Nov-2007, 08:29 by Hugh Barrow.