Highland 34

Gala 18

Bob Sneddon

at Canal Park

GALA couldn't topple early League One leaders Highland on Saturday despite an encouraging opening half on the 3G pitch.

With the weather gods smiling on Inverness it was all set for a good game of rugby, and so it turned out.

The match was strongly contested for the first 10 minutes despite neither team able to take points of the other.

It was the home team who made the breakthrough as they were awarded a penalty following a yellow card incident against Gala’s John Watson.

As a result of the lineout and forward drive from the penalty, Highland’s prop scored.

Just two minutes later, with Gala still down to 14 men, a good passage of play resulted in John Frew going over for a try.

Sustained Gala pressure in the second quarter resulted in the award of two penalties in kickable positions.

Gregor Mein slotted both to give the Maroons a 11-5 lead.

Highland got back into the game and following a second yellow card against John Frew in the 39th minute, they scored through their winger Connor Ross.

The teams turned around with Gala 11-10 to the good.

Gala started the second half poorly with a kick going straight into the hands of Highland's full back who evaded three tackles down the touchline to score under the posts.

The try was converted giving the hosts a 17-11 advantage.

Unfortunately Gala’s dip in performance in the second half continued with Highland scoring another try, their bonus point score, on the hour.

The conversion took them clear.

A further penalty in the 74th minute gave Highland a 27-11 advantage.

Gala did manage to get back into the game in the last 10 minutes scoring a try through Terry Logan after some sustained pressure.

Although the Maroons continued to push for a further try in the closing stages they were hit with a last-minute counter attack.

Highland's breakaway try making the final score 34-18.