Turriff RFC fall short against Highland side
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Turriff RFC men faced a strong Highland third outfit on Saturday, coming short 31-53 despite some well worked tries, writes Isla Jack.
Eager to make an impact early on, Turriff put pressure on Highland and moved towards the opposition 22.
Debutant Wayne Watson was carrying well, punching holes in the defence around the breakdown and tying in defenders.
The experienced Dale Alsop recognised this and thanks to quick service from scrum half Daniel Chisholm crashed through a gap and put Turriff on the scoreboard first. Chisholm’s boot struck the ball well to put the home team in the lead 7-0.
Bringing on some of their pace off the bench, Highland scored two consecutive tries through strong, quick runners – both of which were converted.
A Highland player found another gap, but brilliant tracking defence from centre Mark Davidson stopped him in his tracks. Unfortunately this tackle was deemed to be high, and Highland opted for the posts to make it 7-17 to the visitors.
Turriff grouped together and worked the ball up the park, coming away with a penalty at kicking distance which Chisholm slotted through.
Putting on a great display of organisation in attack were the Turriff forwards, and after working the pods well Dale Alsop caught the defence short and went over for his second, again converted.
It was Highland who finished off the first half, after a sneaky step on the inside saw another score under the posts to make the half-time score 17-24.
Highland were back to work from the off in the second half, again using their pace out wide through some big runners and putting another four tries onto the scoresheet.
Turriff, who could easily have been discouraged, instead pulled together and made the last 20 minutes an exciting watch.
A strong kick and chase from a kick-off forced an error from Highland and flanker Matt Baron was more than happy to put the ball up his jumper and race for the line to go over for a well deserved try after his man-of-the-match performance.
Highland found their way over for another after solid defence from Turriff, but it was the home side who had the last say of the day.
Some incredible runs and organisation from the whole team caused the Highland defence to crumble, and quick thinking from Mark Davidson saw him pick and go from the back of a ruck to speed under the posts.
Though tough to take the loss at home, Turriff displayed some excellent rugby and were unfortunate to concede a few tries that did not quite reflect how well matched the teams were on the day.
Nevertheless, a losing bonus point keeps them in the top half of the league and hungry for the next game against Inverness Craig Dunain at home on Saturday with a 3pm kick-off.
