Highland drop to second bottom
HIGHLAND slipped further into the Caledonia Regional League Division One relegation mire when they narrowly lost 24-20 at bottom of the table Mackie Academy FP.
The Greens defeat, combined with a win for fellow strugglers Ellon, left Highland second from bottom — just one point clear of Mackie.
Highland travelled with a good squad and from the kick-off they made a strong start as they looked to ease their fears of potentially taking the drop.
An early 10-0 lead was established as a result of such a brisk opening, but Highland were then made to pay from Craig Little missing a couple of kicks and then Tam Magowan being sin-binned.
Mackie quickly seized the numerical advantage and used it to good effect, scoring two converted tries of their own to go in at the break 14-10 in front.
Highland found it difficult to regain their composure in the second period and the loss of another converted try left them 21-10 down.
The Greens did, however, produce a late response with two unconverted tries of their own, but a penalty by Mackie meant the hosts claimed a precious triumph.
Highland tries came courtesy of two from Rory Cross and one by Epi Vukicea. Little also managed a kick a conversion.
The only solace now for Highland as the run-in approaches could well be the fact that four out of their final five league matches will take place at Canal Park.
Highland’s under-15s made the trip with the senior side to play Mackie in a league match and they managed to come away with an important 29-12 success.
There was no action at Canal Park on Saturday with the postponement of the under-18s Champions League match with Stirling County.
On Sunday, Highland’s under-16s welcome Glasgow Hawks to the city as they faced each other in the quarter-final of the National Youth League Bowl competition.
Both sides were suffering from players being unavailable due to district and holiday commitments, yet they served up a thrilling game that Highland completely dominated to win convincingly 48-14.
Highland’s under-16 coaches paid tribute to their players for such an effort, while the Hawks also deserve praise for their efforts, despite being reduced to 14 players due to injury.
The scorers for Highland were Iain Crush and Harrison Wright with two tries each, while Fionnlagh Call, Stephen Grant, Johnny Grant and Hamish Hepburn also went over. Hepburn kicked four conversions as well.
Highland will now play Musselburgh in the semi-finals of the competition on Sunday 3rd March.
