Highland’s recent good run of form disappeared without trace in the mud of Hartree Mill where Biggar and Highland struggled to cope with the driving rain and near gale-force wind, restricting the two teams to a try apiece.
It was the Lanarkshire side who emerged victorious with a 16-7 win by virtue of the three penalties they added to a converted try.
Highland had to settle for a Hugo Crush try converted by the Canal Park side’s stand-off Scott Fraser.
‘They made the best of it’
David Carson, the Highland head coach, was frustrated by the experience.
He said: “We came here with high expectations of being able to play running rugby against a side who have similar ambitions but the elements didn’t allow for it.
“To the credit of both teams they made the best of it on the most vile of days when it was hard enough to stand up, far less play quality rugby.
“We’ll just have to knuckle down and stop feeling sorry for ourselves and beat league leaders Kelso on our own pitch in Inverness.”
Biggar had the best of the first half, scoring a converted try and a penalty to lead 10-0 at the interval but were pegged back by the Crush try.
But in their bid to get on level terms, Highland almost inevitably made mistakes, leading to two more penalties, the second of which denied the visitors even the consolation of a losing bonus point.
Leaders Kelso made it 14 wins in a row with a convincing 29-0 win at home to Stewart’s Melville.
In National League Three, Orkney were in contention at only 14-6 against Strathmore at Forfar before crashing to a 47-9 defeat.
“We’ll just need to ensure we don’t slip into the relegation zone,” said coach for the day, Garry Coltherd.
In Caley Division One, Dunfermline kept their title push on track with a 28-5 win at Caithness, keeping them six points ahead of Ellon who were 75-0 winners away to Aberdeen Wanderers.
