It's not unusual for the Preston Lodge team to meet at around 1pm prior to a match but this time the rendezvous was 26 hours prior to kick off, as the 1st XV squad and around a dozen supporters set off on Friday for the 285 mile journey to Thurso to face National League Division 2 side Caithness in the semi final of the SHE Bowl.

Caithness realised right from the kick off that they had a tough job in store when after only two minutes, Euan Thayne reached over to steal what looked to be secure home ball and then following a penalty for holding on, Graeme Patterson sent a 50m kick to touch in the corner.

The line out that followed set the benchmark for the afternoon as Calum Wilson's perfect throw was collected high in the air by Blair Cowan.

The rest of the pack joined in to drive to the line but good defence held them up just short.

The home side were struggling to win any ball at this time and the pressure forced them into conceding another penalty for being offside inside their own 22.

Holding

Unfortunately, Patterson's shot at goal drifted wide of the posts to deny PL a deserved lead.

The stand off made amends a few minutes later though when Caithness regained the ball following a Cowan break but were caught holding on as Thayne was first to the breakdown and was denied the opportunity to take the ball back.

The constant pressure continued to trouble the home side as they conceded several penalties and Patterson doubled the lead to 0-6 after 14 minutes when the backs were caught offside in front of the posts.

Several other forays into the home 22 where to prove fruitless for PL despite close calls from John Morrison and Cammy McLean who were to be denied when the ball was lost forward close to the line.

The Referee must have been tempted to reach for his yellow card as Caithness continued to disrupt the flow of PL's play by conceding penalties for offside and holding on.

He continued to show tolerance but the kicks to touch only served to highlight PL's dominance in the line out as Voy and Cowan won every ball and Scott mopped any loose tap downs.

On the half hour, the pressure on the home pack forced them to drop a scrum allowing Patterson to kick to touch on 10m.

Attacks

Once he had received the ball back following the line out, he spotted a gap behind the defence and cleverly and perfectly dabbed the ball through into the space, inviting who else but Ali Wood to collect the kind bounce and touch down one of the easiest of his 23 tries this season.

The conversion was added to extend the lead to 0-13 as it would remain at half time but Caithness rallied towards the end of the half to show that they were able to mount attacks of their own and might pose more of a threat in the second half.

This is exactly what happened as the home side were immediately on the attack inside PL's 22 and were awarded two kickable penalties but elected to put them into touch in an attempt to maintain pressure.

This was a strange but welcome decision as Thayne was able to steal the ball allowing it to be cleared down field.

Caithness were a changed side though and playing with much more confidence as proved when their young scrum half eluded several tackles to get within striking distance of the PL line.

The defence was good though and denied the threat but on the next Caithness attack the neutral touch judges signalled to the referee that PL were offside in front of the posts allowing full back Blair MacIntosh to reduce the deficit to 3-13.

Most of the play in the second half was in the PL half but when Dixon cleared the ball down field a few minutes later, the referee's patience finally ran out with Caithness as they held onto the ball and this time he sent one of the pack to the bin.

Identical

Andrew Clark took over the kicking duties and comfortably restored PL's 13 point lead by converting the penalty from in front of the posts.

PL's opponents in the final are Dalziel. A close match is expected as both teams play in National League Division 1 and each side has a near identical record this season. They lie side by side in the league with 47 points.

Preston Lodge: S Dixon, D Thomson, A Clark, A Wood, F Harris, G Patterson, N MacDonald, S McLean, C Wilson, C McLean, P Voy, B Cowan, D Scott, J Morrison (capt), E Thayne. Replacements: J Russell, R Anderson, M Coull, A Blair (all used).