With a 07.00 departure time this was always going to be a long day for Highland S1/2s but when the bus broke down on the M80, it turned out to be even more of a marathon.

Arriving over two hours late, we were extremely grateful to GHA and their players for hanging around. A ten minute warm up and it was straight into the game.

Both sides were very evenly matched in the early exchanges but it was Highland that got the first score. Will MacNaughton showing great strength and speed to break through a couple of tackles and out pace the rest of the defence. A well taken conversion by Jamie Carson gave us a 0-7 lead.

GHA fought back and after we committed too many players to a break down they had space out wide to score in the corner though they missed the conversion. 5-7

Jamie then added to his tally with a great arcing run to score our second. 5-12. Some missed tackles let GHA hit back with an unconverted try 10-12.

With arriving so late we only had time to play three fifteen minute thirds and with time running out any mistake could prove costly. Unfortunately Highland again defended too narrowly and were exposed out wide to give GHA the wining score 17-12.

Given the lack of preparation and length of journey all Highland S1s were a credit to the club both on and off the pitch. While it’s a long day, this is the level of opposition we need if we are to continue to develop.

Many thanks to GHA for there patience and hospitality