Cutting edge needed to escape from relegation zone
Caithness 3, Dumfries 24
Published: 23 November, 2007
THE Greens tomorrow face the first of two scraps against city sides which could go a long way towards determining their season's fate.

Successive victories away to Glasgow Accies tomorrow and at home to Allan Glen's the following week would help them escape the claustrophobic basement zone. A pair of defeats versus their fellow strugglers would intensify the spectre of the club suffering its first relegation in its 45-year history.

To succeed, the Greens will have to regain the knack of scoring tries, which has become something of a lost art. Saturday's blank against Dumfries was the fourth in their last six outings.

Tryless in four hours of rugby, they have scored a meagre 13 in 12 Scottish Hydro-Electric National League Division 2 matches. That compares with 32 at the same stage last year.

Again on Saturday, the failure to breach the opposition line was not for the want of opportunities. Indeed, Dumfries were on the rack in the second quarter when the Greens were repeatedly thwarted in the shadow of the visitors' line.

In a rerun of their clash with unbeaten leaders Howe of Fife, the lack of a cutting edge and a habit of conceding avoidable penalties in kickable positions proved fatal to their hopes.

Caithness bossed the first half and, while their effort slackened after the break, they were still very much in the frame when Blair McIntosh landed a penalty to reduce the deficit to 3-9 on the hour mark. Dumfries put a false gloss on an indifferent display as they pulled clear with two tries in the closing six minutes.

The Greens were boosted by the return of farming duo William Mill and David Pottinger, though skipper Ewen Boyd's return was postponed as a result of impending fatherhood.

Losing their first scrum put-in was an early indicator for the visitors that racking up their sixth win on the spin was not going to be a formality.

They were, however, first to show menace when a sparkling move put brothers Sam and Tom Hiddleston in space in the swimming-pool corner. Either would have crossed but for crunching cover tackles by converted wing Danny Gordon and Pottinger.

Tom Hiddleston accepted the opportunity to kick his side into a seventh-minute lead after a Caithness forward offended at a breakdown. The Saints were hardly to visit opposition territory again for the remainder of the first half.

A sparky break, spearheaded by Stevie Campbell and Evan Sutherland, was the prelude to a Dumfries forward straying offside at a ruck after 15 minutes. McIntosh would normally have kicked the penalty but he seemed to lose traction on the sticky surface and skewed his effort wide.

The conditions could only partly excuse a steady flow of handling errors on both sides and a consequent plethora of scrums.

The Greens' set-piece was reliable, while Pottinger and Campbell generated much-needed go-forward and grit in open play.

After 22 minutes, a probe by scrum-half Kris Hamilton set in motion a sweeping move left-to-right which ended with Duncan Smith being brought to ground inches from the line. The momentum was broken when he was deemed to have illegally held on to the ball and Tom Hiddleston relieved the pressure with a typically booming clearance kick.

The pressure on the visitors grew eight minutes from the break when their blindside flanker Stevie Wight was yellow-carded for a show of dissent at a penalty awarded against him by referee Andy Moss.

Caithness went close again after 35 minutes when Hamilton released Gordon, who was forced out close to the left corner-flag. Gordon went close again at the same spot when he almost got on the end of Campbell's clever kick-ahead before it went into touch.

Caithness had a clear advantage in the possession stakes, though this was often stymied by a malfunctioning half-back link and a failure to exploit clear scoring opportunities.

The Saints markedly stepped up their challenge after the turnaround following a no-nonsense team talk from coach Tam McGaw. A good spell ended with Tom Hiddleston doubling the lead thanks to penalty on 51 minutes.

The full-back was gifted a further chance four minutes later when Gordon marred an impressive display by giving away a needless penalty.

After the ball had been knocked on by a colleague behind him, he foolishly back-heeled the ball as it bounced towards him. Tom Hiddleston spared the winger's blushes when his shot at goal faded past the far post.

The tomfoolery appeared contagious as several minutes later the experienced Mill sent a wayward pass over his own try-line to no-one in particular. The resultant scrum five saw visiting scrum-half Nick Goddard almost put his half-back partner Eck Bryden in near the right touch-flag.

Dumfries then traversed the park and only a thumping tackle from Gordon prevented left winger Kenny Henderson crossing in the opposite corner.

Caithness were in possession when they were penalised on 58 minutes for illegal interference by an off-the-ball runner during a midfield move. Tom Hiddleston took the opportunity to stretch the lead to 9-0.

The Greens were in danger of losing touch but they responded with a McIntosh penalty after a Dumfries supporting forward flopped over a ruck.

After Tom Hiddleston was wide with a long-range penalty, Caithness enjoyed a brief in the opposition 22. But a misplaced pass gave away possession and Tom Hiddleston caused more than a few flutters with his siege-gun punt upfield.

As a cluster of Saints gave chase, a try looked on the cards before Hamilton scampered back to defuse the danger.

The tiring Greens had their radar down after 74 minutes when they were caught short-handed by a wide move which ended with Ross Daley sending fellow centre Jamie Farquhar with a clear run to the line.

Tom Hiddleston failed to add the extras but landed his fourth penalty two minutes later.

Hopes of a losing bonus point were now fast ebbing away and they vanished completely when Dumfries scored their second try in the last minute.

Pottinger spoiled an otherwise industrious display when his pass was intercepted by Henderson, who romped home from 60 yards. Tom Hiddleston converted to take his personal tally to 14 points.

Visiting coach McGaw said afterwards: "It wasn't the greatest spectacle and the conditions had a fair bit to do with that. We knew we were in for a really tough game and we would have settled at the start for a 3-0 win."

His counterpart Jim MacMillan was left to contemplate another outing where his side had been well in the fray until near the end, only to emerge point-less.

"Some of our handling was shocking," he said. "I thought we dominated the first half and we really should have scored a couple of tries before half-time.

"We didn't start the second half well when there were too many forwards just not working. Saying that, we were in the game until the closing 10 minutes when we seemed to run out of puff."

For tomorrow's trip to play Accies, skipper Ewen Boyd will again miss out because of family responsibilities.

Blair McIntosh and David Pottinger are unavailable, while Gary Mackay and Mill face late fitness checks.

Graeme Ross and James "Pop" Sinclair are available again and student James Paterson is also in the frame.

MacMillan is in no doubt about how crucial the coming two games could be to the club. "We certainly need to get something out of the games against Glasgow Accies and Allan Glen's," he said.

Caithness: W. Mill, D. Gordon, B. McIntosh, D. Smith, G. MacLeod, G. Mackay, K. Hamilton, L. MacNicol, S. Dunnett, R. Pottinger, A. Morris, G. Anderson, D. Pottinger, E. Sutherland, S. Campbell. Replacements (all used): C. Smith, J. Miller, N. Foubister.

Dumfries: T. Hiddleston, S. Hiddleston, J. Farquhar, R. Daley, K. Henderson, E. Bryden, N. Goddard, R. Dunlop, R. Haggarty, K. Geddes, B. Stanley, D. Henderson, S. Wight, S. Clanachan, J. Little. Replacements (all used): E. Sloan, D. Crichton, T. Dobui.

Referee: A. Moss.

* Accies on Saturday went down narrowly to Highland in Inverness. The home side's 17-12 victory keeps them on the coat-tails of the top three while earning a losing bonus point for the Anniesland outfit. Howe of Fife stay in pole position, retaining their 100 per cent record with a 15-0 win at Grangemouth.

Forrester stay second, though they were pushed all the way before securing a 30-23 win over strugglers Stewartry.

Allan Glen's could not follow up their derby win over Accies the previous week, crashing 27-5 at Kilmarnock.

In the other match, Newton Stewart bounced back from their home defeat against Caithness with a 19-5 win at Linlithgow.

This article was originally posted on 23-Nov-2007, 21:53 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 23-Nov-2007, 21:54.