With only 17 players making the trip up to thurso it was always going to be tough for the blacks to recreate the success they had up north last season. However they started strongly with a good spell of possession in the oppositions half. The ferocity of the Caithness pack in the ruck began to tell when they won a penalty and then scored a try off the following lineout the first of two scores from a driving maul. The pace and the power proved too much for a young blacks team and the home side scored 4 unanswered tries in the first half.

With the score at 20-0 at half time Strathie needed to up there game to get back into the game. With some strong runs and much improved tackling they started to get a hold of the game and Connor Blackmore scored his first try of the season from a quick tap and go. This was all that they could manage and another try for Caithness before from another tap and go made the score 27-5. This is how it remained until the final whistle.

This was another stern test for the young team but they can be proud of how they stepped up and defended in the second half.

Match Report by James Kiely.