Highland exit Scottish Cup with 40-21 defeat at Musselburgh

Highland found the going tough at Musselburgh in the first round of the Scottish Cup as they slipped to a 40-21 loss.

The Canal Park side were forced to make changes to their original team selection, resulting in them fielding a much lighter pack than the East Lothian side.

Head coach Davie Carson was disappointed that two late withdrawals had weakened his side but said: “No excuses, we were not good enough to win against a very talented side who threw the ball about but were also much heavier up front.

“We learned some valuable lessons today which we will take into our National League One campaign in a bid to claim fourth place.”

Well it wouldn’t be Highland if we didn’t concede a score within the 1st 5 mins. Musselburgh go in wide right, conversion missed. @MusselburghRFC 5-0 @HighlandRFC pic.twitter.com/Oscn3zxtjN

— Highland Rugby Club 🦅 (@HighlandRFC) February 4, 2023

Highland made the best of starts, racing into a 14-0 lead on the back of two superb tries from winger Magnus Henry who has been a revelation at Canal Park this season.

Musselburgh hit back with two touchdowns of their own but trailed 14-12 at half time.

The Inverness side lost their way in the second half with stand off Scott Fraser yellow carded.

The home side added four more tries to take control of the game.

Highland plugged away, getting their reward though scrum half Hugo Crush, another of the season’s standouts. Fraser by this time was back on the field of play, adding his third conversion of the afternoon.

Carson’s men now have a week off in which to prepare for a testing trip to Gala.

“We’ll need to improve on our first up tackles for that one,” said the Highland head coach.

Fifers close in on title

Dunfermline are one win away from winning Caley Division One after a convincing 64-7 win away to Hillfoots, while Aberdeen Wanderers fought a gallant rearguard action at Grangemouth, restricting the home side to a 26-5 win.

In the same league Aberdeenshire thumped Caithness 45-0 at Woodside.

In Caley 3 North, Moray relentlessly closed in on the title after easing past Shetland 41-19.

In the only other game played in the division Mackie moved into third place after an impressive 52-17 win at Redcloak where Ross Sutherland were the visitors.