Highland had another bad day on the road in National League One at Stirling – suffering a disappointing 34-13 reverse in what was a major setback to the north men’s promotion prospects.
Head coach Davie Carson was deeply disappointed by his charges’ inability to get on the front foot, but said: “Even at 21-13 down at half-time, we should have been able to turn things around, but instead we failed to score another point in the second half.
“We played into the hands of Stirling County, running it wide with little purpose.
“Overall (it was) a poor showing.
“We must learn from the experience, or else we will find ourselves out of contention in a very competitive league, but we’ll now have a two-week break in which to contemplate how we whittle back the 11-point advantage Kelso have at the top.”
Stirling land another late pen to make the score – to secure a well deserved victory
Score@StirlingCounty 34-13 @HighlandRFC— Highland Rugby Club 🦅 (@HighlandRFC) October 29, 2022
Highland played with conviction in the first half, but were denied two touchdowns by a picky referee, having to settle for a well-taken try from their energetic scrum-half Hugh Crush and converted by stand-off Scott Fraser – who also kicked two conversions.
The second half was generally run by the Bridgehaugh side, who added a touchdown to their overall four-try tally to claim the honours, much to the chagrin of veteran Highland hooker Kevin Brown.
He said: “We never turned up, confirming our poor form away from home.
“We will hopefully compensate at home to Melrose in two weeks.”
Orkney forced to settle for losing bonus point in National Three
In the meantime, up in Kirkwall, Orkney were discovering home comforts are not necessarily a guarantee of home wins, succumbing to a last-minute try against Hillhead Jordanhill to agonisingly lose 30-25.
Head coach Derek Robb said: “Once again we were the victim of our own unforced errors, but we got no breaks in a hard-fought game.
“We now have four weeks without a game, until we play Gordonians – when we will hopefully have a full squad available.”
The islanders led 12-10 at half-time, but, despite scoring three tries, had to settle for a losing bonus point for being within seven points of their opponents.
The Orkney scores were attributed to Scott Rendall, Jon Tait, and Connor Hancock, while captain Hancock kicked two conversions and two penalties, adding to his growing reputation as a goal kicker.
Moray slay Ellon giant in National Shield
In the Caledonian set-up, pride of place went to Moray, who brought high-flying Ellon down to earth in Elgin in the National Shield with a last-minute try to win 36-31, sending the former Murrayfield finalists home to the Meadows with nothing.
“We are having a great run in Caley 2 North but this is a great scalp in a national competition,” said delighted Moray player-coach Cameron Hughes.
In the same competition, Ross Sutherland had a good 17-14 win at Invergordon against Kinross, making it a day to remember for northern clubs.
On a day where numerous fixtures were postponed in the area in cup and league, 2nd Aberdeen Grammar were given the run around in their Caley 2 North game at Rubislaw by 2nd Highland, who ran out 50-29 winners, while, in Caley 3 North, 2nd Caithness were easy 36-5 winners at home to Inverness Craig Dunain.
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