Disappointing day as Orkney and Caithness taste defeat

Caithness and Orkney both tasted defeat in National 3 on Saturday.

A trip to Ayrshire proved too much for Orkney where they were well beaten 39-10 by Ardrossan Accies, to finish the day second bottom of the table.

Despite the defeat, coach and vice-president Garry Coltherd was proud of his team’s effort. He said: “It was a hard game.

“We played well in stages and the final score flattered them.

“It was good to have Scott Rendall back and once we get others back in the side, we’ll start to move up the league.

“In the meantime we have a tough test away to leaders Newton Stewart on Saturday.”

Orkney trailed 17-3 at the break with only a Graham Poke penalty to show for their efforts but did manage a try when Rendall plunged over the Ardrossan line for a touchdown which was converted by Poke.

At Thurso, Caithness went down 38-27 to Murrayfield Wanderers to the disappointment of head coach Tom McGee.

He said: “We started well, putting them under pressure for most of the first half, but didn’t capitalise.

“We also gave them three tries from our own unenforced errors, while lacking the necessary composure.

“We had a few changes from last week, including the introduction of 18-yearold Jack Macleod who won man of the match, while hooker Callum Hill put in a huge stint for us. It was a shame we couldn’t get a win. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

The Millbank side had the consolation of picking up a try bonus point for their four touchdowns, attributed to Grant Anderson (2), Kevin Budge and Mark Jamieson.

Stand-off Marc Anderson added two conversions and a penalty for the home side who now face the long trip to the Borders to meet St Boswells on Saturday.

It could be an intriguing contest with both sides taking five points from their opening four fixtures.

“We played well in stages and the final score flattered them”