Reds take a major step towards title

HIGHLAND Reds took a massive step on their way to possible title glory in Caledonia Regional League Division Three North/West with a 14-0 triumph at Canal Park over nearest rivals Strathspey.

Having won their opening four games of the season prior to Saturday, the Reds faced their sternest test of the campaign so far as their opponents also boasted an unbeaten record.

Strathspey were certainly up for the challenging, chasing and scraping for every ball and this tactic clearly disrupted the hosts, who made several unforced errors over the course of the 80 minutes.

Despite the mistakes, the Reds tackled well to thwart the visitors best attacking efforts and despite a lacklustre performance, they managed to pick up the victory.

Tries from Simon Stephen and Epi Vukicea, both converted by Craig Irvine, eventually proved decisive for the Reds, who now move five points clear of Strathspey at the top of the table.

Highland’s second team now have a break from league duty, but will take on Orkney’s reserve side in a friendly as their senior squad faces the Greens in a Caledonia Regional League Division One fixture

Meanwhile, Highland’s under-18s put in their best display of the season so far to overcome Deeside 27-5 at Canal Park. The hosts went into this encounter still missing influential skipper Roddy MacKenzie, but they still proved too strong for the visitors.

Both sides started the game at a frenetic pace, yet the quality of rugby did not suffer throughout the entire match.

Highland were simply just that bit quicker from the off and got two tries courtesy of Blair Lockwood with one converted from out wide by Rory Carson to take a 12-0 lead.

The home side certainly knew they had a game on their hands as Deeside came back strongly and replied with an unconverted try for 12-5.

The pace of the game was unrelenting, but Highland held the edge as they secured a penalty followed by a try. Charlie MacDonald squeezed over following a series of drives to give his side a 20-5 half-time lead.

There was no let-up to the action in the second half as both teams defended superbly in the face of strong pressure.

The turning point, however, came when the Deeside stand-off broke through for an almost certain score only to be tackled superbly by Laurie Revell a metre short of the line.

After that move, Highland countered swiftly with a surge right to the other end of the pitch and sealed victory when John Clark went over for a converted try and a 27-5 win.

It was a massively encouraging performance from Highland’s youngsters and will stand them in good stead ahead of a difficult match at Orkney on Saturday.