Caithness V Orkney Inter County 06-07 Second Leg

Caithness v Orkney Inter County 06-07 second leg

The second leg of the inter county against Caithness was played recently with Orkney having gained 7-5 leads in both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ matches from the home leg that was played in December.

Despite it blowing a hooly, the morning crossing on the ferry was remarkably calm. Many thanks to Northlink Ferries for their generous sponsorship of the team for the travel across the pentland firth.

The first match on saw the experienced Calvin Reid playing with ‘A’ county debutant Gary Nicolson. Gary played well during county practices and must be congratulated for earning a place in the team, especially as he is still only fifteen years old. The Orkney pair lost in three close sets but Gary showed he can hold his own at this level of competition. A young Caithness pairing earned a good win at third ladies. At second mens, Trevor Kinghorn and Stuart Slater lost in three sets against the new Caithness pairing of Sam Campbell and Martin Cook. Sam in particular played well in this match, continuing the form he has showed all season. Orkney gained their first win at second ladies as the experienced pairing of Elaine Gray and Moira Nicolson comfortably won in two sets.

Eoin Ballantine and Ross Gorundwater battled hard but found the going hard against the very strong pairing of Mark Mackay and John Durrand. The Caithness boys winning in two sets. The best and most exciting game of the days play was about to emerge as Orkney’s first pairing of Christine West and Elspeth MacLellan played a stormer as they narrowly earned a hard fought win against the strong Caithness paring of Carol Mowat and Casey Sangster. The Orkney pair held their nerve to win the final set 21-19.

This gave Caithness a 4-2 lead after the level doubles and left the overall match poised at 9-all. Gary Nicolson was to play with another experienced player in Cath Bremner at sixth mixed. Despite having lost the first set they fought back to win a close second set. Unfortunately, the Orkney pairing lost the third set but credit must be given for the performance against a strong pairing. Lynn Cursiter and Stuart Slater fought hard but lost against difficult opposition in three sets at fifth mixed. Moira Nicolson and Trevor Kinghorn played well and earned a comfortable win at fourth mixed. Elaine Gray and Calvin Reid struggled to contain their opposition in the first set at third mixed. They fought back well to win the match in three sets to give Orkney a much needed win. Caithness had left their big guns till last and this proved to be the case as they won both second and first mixed in two sets.

This meant Caithness won the match 8-4 and the trophy with an overall scoreline of 13-11 in their favour. A disappointing result for the Orkney players, but with a few players unavailable or injured the match was always going to be difficult. The win was always still possible, but just was not meant to be on the night. Well done to all who competed.

The ‘B’ county match saw Robert Miller and William Thomson battle hard at third mens but lost out to the more experienced Caithness pairing. Jane Hill and Joanne Pottinger played very well in a three set match and were unfortunate not to win. The Orkney girls played well and covered the court effectively in a game with long rallies and powerful hitting. Brian Williamson and Graham Beck played well in their match at second mens with some really tight net shots leading to some exciting rallies but found the Caithness pair just a bit too strong. Orkney rallied with Kathryn Sclater and Sandra Deans putting in a determined performance winning in two sets whilst moving their opponents around the court well. Best match of the ‘B’ county was played at first mens as the vastly experienced pairing of Robbie Norquoy and Marty Flett claimed a dramatic win. Having lost the first set they clawed their way back into the game by winning the second 21-16. The third set was very even with the Caithness pairing 11-10 in the lead at the turnover. From here the Caithness pair of Davie ‘Daisy’ Swanson and Andy Nicolson (brother of Orkney builder, Stevie Nicolson) earned a 19-13 lead, which with the new scoring system is virtually game over. Undaunted, Robbie and Marty kept battling hard but now they were staring defeat in the face as they were 20-16 down, one fluffed shot, one serve in the net and it was game over. To their credit and amazement of their fellow team players they managed to secure victory with a scoreline of 24-22 saving many matchpoints along the way. What heroes!

Orkney’s fightback continued at first ladies as Kim MacKintosh and Melanie Sclater fought back to win in three sets after a losing a nervy first set. The second and third set saw the Orkney lasses regain their composure and control the game.

The scoreline after the doubles was 3-3 leaving Orkney in a 10-8 lead overall.

Orkney’s junior pairings competed well at fifth and sixth mixed but found their opponents just that little bit stronger. Caithness won both these games in two sets. Orkney struggled to serve consistently at fourth mixed and with the serve now being even more important with the new scoring system this left them disadvantaged as the Caithness pair won in two sets. Orkney gained a much needed win at third mixed Melanie Sclater and Graham Beck won a very close games in two sets with scores of 22-20, 21-19. With their opponents varying their game throughout the Orkney pair performed very well.

After having lost the first set Kim MacKintosh and Robbie Norquoy couldn’t quite force a third set losing the second game 21-19. Kathry Sclater and Marty Flett fought hard at first mixed but couldn’t find consistency as their opponents won in two sets. This left the scoreline 8-4 in Caithness’ favour giving them the trophy, again with a scoreline of 13-11. Another disappointing result for Orkney but with some encouraging performances along the way. Credit goes to Caithness for battling back to win the trophies after having lost both matches in Orkney. Once again, making the most of home advantage seems to be what decides the outcome of the trophies.

There is no time for heads to go down though as the Shetland ‘A’ team travel to Orkney next month, whilst the Orkney ‘B’team travel in the opposite direction to play their respective matches. Many thanks to county selectors Stuart Slater, Eoin Ballantine and Christine West