Dave Carson relieved to be talking rugby again after Highland's perfect storm of a week
AFTER a perfect storm of a week, Dave Carson was relieved to get back to talking about rugby again.
Highland’s move to their new £4 million facility was shelved at the last minute due to certification of the building not being signed off in time for their game with Gordonians on Saturday.
That meant swift moving of kits and equipment to Inverness High School, as well as fixture secretary Geoff Begg contacting Gordonians and the match officials to inform them of the late switch.
Throw into the mix a further hiccup when they arrived at the High School – a kids football event meant a shortage of pitches and the cancellation of the seconds’ fixture with RAF Lossiemouth – and anything that could go wrong seemed to.
But with a 39-14 win over Gordonians and another bonus-point victory in the bag, Carson was able to look on the bright side.
“It had been a bit hectic. We got a good week of training in at the new pitch and everything was built up, only for us to be told at 5pm that it wouldn’t be available,” said Carson. “After the week we’d had, we wondered if the boys were going to be downbeat starting the game. Going from week to week, not knowing if you’re training and playing at the High School or not, if you’re going to have changing facilities, is not easy when you want to focus solely on rugby.
“It’s just been the perfect storm. We were desperate for the seconds to get a game as we wanted to get a look at a number of players pushing for the firsts.
“Luckily, Lossie were very good about it and have agreed to come back through for a midweek game in November and we’ll get a game played under the lights.”
The teams firsts, seconds and under-18s all trained on the pitch on Tuesday and Thursday, with the view to playing a double-header on the new artificial surface on Saturday.
A former players and officials day, intended to give them the grand tour of the new facility, was also pulled.
A council spokeswoman said yesterday that work was ongoing to ensure the club could move into the clubhouse as soon as possible.
It could now move their grand opening back to the Ardrossan Accies game a week on Saturday, provided there are no further delays over the next 10 days.
This is the third time they have been delayed moving in to the revamped Canal Park. Highland officials were given August 25 as the initial hand-over date, which came and went without any movement.
Their game with Hillhead Jordanhill on September 23 was the next date given for their homecoming but again due to the building not being ready, the move had to be pushed back again.
Highland’s win maintained their unbeaten start to the season, lifting them into the top two for the first season. They and Glasgow Accies are the only teams with 100 per cent records in National Three.
Stuart MacDonald and Iain Chisholm both touched down twice, with Callum Carson and Craig Findlater also getting their names on the scoresheet.
“They scored in the first five minutes after a silly mistake from ourselves and their dangerous full-back just waltzed through,” said Carson. “But we stuck to the task and were 15-14 up at half-time.
“We scored four tries in the second half, played territory and ran in some good scores.”
The one downside for the greens was a hamstring injury to centre Rory Cross, who looks set to miss a month of action.
Wins for St Boswells, Murrayfield Wanderers and Ardrossan Accies, who all have to play Highland this month, sees them a game further back than Carson’s side. Glasgow Accies were 33-15 victors over Perthshire.
The seconds going without a game has seen them drop to eighth in Caledonia North Two, with second-placed Moray to play on the road this Saturday.
