Orkney seconds played their first match of the new season on Saturday. The squad travelled with high confidence with a large (if not gargantuan) pack and an exciting looking back line. The only pre-match area of concern was the lineout where Orkney had more lifters than jumpers.

Orkney kicked off, with the breeze at their back, but the ball failed to travel the required distance and Caithness opted for the scrum back on the half way. The Orkney scrum, however, pushed them off the ball and regained possession and attacked into the Caithness 22, where penalised for slowing down possession, allowing Martyn Snell to step up and slot the ball through the uprights. A great start. Unfortunately that may have been the best bit of interplay between the Orkney players. The very heavy pitch, the wind and the drizzle interspersed with heavier showers, disrupted the flow of the game. The passes refusing to stick, the ball refusing to bounce and the legs struggling through the wet silage-field underfoot conditions.

The ball was difficult to move so there were lots of straight running, big tackling and hard rucking as Orkney encamped in the Caithness 22 for most of the first half, but line-breaks were hard to come by. Hamish Boyd in the Caithness centre marshalled his backline defence and snuffed out any threat. A couple of British Lions type cross-field kicks were the only time Orkney got a sniff over the Caithness try-line. With mounting frustration, the Orkney backs tried to be more adventurous, only to pay the price as a pass went astray. Hamish Boyd pounced on it and ran from within his own half to score.

At half-time Orkney had failed to make their pressure tell, but confidence was still high, and if Orkney were able to maintain the pressure, the Caithness wall would have to crack. It was not to be. Caithness scored a second try early in the second half, this time Hamish Boyd becoming the provider, popping the ball off the floor to his centre partner with an open try-line 5 yards ahead. Caithness now ahead and the wind at their back could afford to kick Orkney back and let them try to run out, and some excellent open space running from Gary Kemp, Colin Risbridger and Adam Towrie fizzled out, and Caithness just kicked for territory.

A late Caithness penalty completed the scoring. 13 – 3 to Caithness .

This was the first leg of what this season is a four-tie cup competition, two home and two away. The next match is home on the 5 th November. It was evident that the Caithness players are reaping the rewards from their first team's elevation in the national leagues, and with over 30 players to each session, they can only get stronger. Although there is only 10 points to make up, if we are to compete - that is to get to their level of organisation, the Orkney players have to turn out to training in order to work together at scrums, lineouts and in the back line both in defence and attack. This includes making the right options, and increasing the communication levels throughout.

Orkney:

D. Montgomery; D. Montgomery; M. Groundwater; L. Thompson; N. McCartney; D. McRobbie; D. Bain; J. Wishart; E. Laughton; M. Snell; G. Kemp; T. Spence; A. Towrie; J. Tait; C. Risbridger; D. Sutherland; K. Kent; M. Currie