Caithness v Orkney Inter County - Season 2000-2001

Contents:- -HOME-|-AWAY-

HOME - Thurso - March 16 2000

THE second legs of the annual Caithness/Orkney tussle for the Robertson Cup and Caithness Shield produced some fabulous matches and nail-biting finishes to entertain a large crowd at Thurso Squash Club.

The Caithness "A" team were facing a tough task as they trailed 5-3 from the away leg, but the two Caroles - Cameron and Mowat - gave the county a great start, winning by three games to love against Betty Stanger and Shona Croy respectively. Jane Grant lost out to Karen Pottinger at third ladies but two of the games went to setting.

At men's 3/4/5 Orkney's Mike Swanney, Andy Kemp and Torquil Clyde produced three very strong performances to clinch the victory and reclaim the Robertson Cup despite the best efforts of Jim Georgeson, Dougie Sinclair and Willie Jappy.

picture from J 'O' G - by Mario Luciani

There was still plenty of pride at stake, however, in the last two matches on court. Les Mackay pushed the vastly experienced Mike Budge all the way to 14-all in the fifth but lost out on the setting points.

Cohn Paterson, playing at No. 1 for Caithness for the first time, notched a great 3-0 victory over Orkney champion Ian Stout.

The overall result was therefore 5-3 for Orkney, who are to be congratulated as away victories in this fixture are hard to come by.

Accordingly, Caithness "B" team were optimistic after their 5-3 victory in Orkney but it soon became obvious that the islanders were not going to give in without a struggle.

Lynda Hall and Cath Bremner have been frequent opponents and had their usual close encounter at first ladies, with the Orkney player winning 3-1.

At second ladies Karen Campbell battled all the way but lost 2-3 to the experienced Audrey Poke. Coral Sinclair settled home nerves with a convincing 3-0 victory over Karen Walker.

With the exception of fourth men's, where Barry Reid lost out to the impressive young left-hander Adam Stanger. every men's match went to five games which made for exciting viewing and some tough decisions for the markers.

Bruce Maltman lost his fifth set to Fraser Balfour but Alistair Miller marked his first county appearance by winning 3-2 against Kevin Hancock. Sandy Stewart fought back for victory after losing the first two games to Terry Flett.

Thus the whole match depended on first men's. The arithmetic was complex: if Orkneyman Shaun Tait won 3/0 the shield would go over the firth, while two games would give Caithness victory.

Caithness's Andy Robertson stayed cool to settle the issue without resorting to countback, however, churning out the punishing rallies to win in five very tight games, the last two being 14/15 and 15/14, to the delight of the crowd.

Caithness thus retained the shield with an overall 9-7 victory.

AWAY - Kirkwall - December 2000

Caithness made a reasonable start to retaining the Robertson Cup and Caithness Shiel when the first legs were played in Kirwall recently.

The 'A' Team lost by three matches to five but hope to reverse the score when the second leg is played in Thurso in March.

The 'B' Team scored a rare away triumph winning by five games to three. The junior boys' match was a draw.

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