Highland emerged victorious against Aberdeen Grammar in the eagerly-awaited clash between the top two teams in the north of Scotland at Canal Park.
The 58-14 victory for the home side keeps them well on track for a top-half finish in National League One.
It also heaps additional pressure on Grammar, who conceded 10 tries and sit second bottom of the table with only two wins from 12 games.
The last time the two sides met in a competitive game was in April 2019 when Grammar were convincing 26-10 winners in the final of the National League Cup.
Much has happened in the intervening years to suggest that the Inverness side now hold sway over their Rubislaw rivals.
Highland head coach Davie Carson said: “It’s always good to beat your derby rivals but in truth it was a patchy performance in parts.
“We came good eventually, scoring some excellent tries in the second half.
“I suppose it’s always a good sign when you can be critical of a 10-try win.”
His opposite number co head coach Nat Coe, conceded his young, inexperienced side had been well beaten but added: “It was a brave, committed effort with a little purple patch either side of half time when we scored two converted tries.
“Highland are in a good place, they are good all-round resourceful side.”
📣TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT📣
Our 1XV team the face @HighlandRFC has now been confirmed!
📍Canal Park, Inverness
⏰ 3PM KO
🚌 Bus leaves at 9:30AM at GWHGood luck guys👏#GrammarGranite pic.twitter.com/fORMftBZuh
— Aberdeen Grammar Rugby (@ABDNRugby) December 9, 2022
Grammar’s afternoon got off to the worst possible of starts when before a ball was kicked in anger when stand off Sam Knudson was injured in the warm up and took no further part in the proceedings.
Without a player of the quality of Knudson, it was clear it was going to be a long afternoon for the Aberdonians, although his stand-in Paul Paxton enjoyed a good day, including converting the two tries scored by scrum half Patrick Ritchie and centre Craig Shepherd who both earned pass marks in a game dominated by the home side.
Once again it was the dedicated Aberdeen pack who earned the defensive plaudits, even if they were outplayed by their Canal Park counterparts.
No 8 Andrew Findlater, in particular, turned in an accomplished performance for the homesters in his comeback game, including scoring a fine try.
In the front row, the Highland heroes were Jonny Milton and 18-year-old Ollie Smith, a more than capable replacement for veteran Kevin Brown who was sidelined.
But the man of the match for most of the vociferous home crowd was winger Craig Findlater who pulverised the Grammar defence at regular intervals.
Highland took their time to get into the game, being victim of their own at speed game which was not always focused to the frustration of the home coaching team.
A stop-start first half ended 19-7 for the home side, although it was the visitors who had the last word when scrum half Ritchie showed a clean pair of heels to the Highland back line.
Earlier in the half Highland had tries attributed to winger Magnus Hendry, lock Owen McDonald and a penalty try one of which was converted by stand off Rory Carson.
Apart from a brief flurry in the second half Grammar had to play second fiddle to the rampant northerners who scored a further seven tries, touched down by centre Rupeni Rokoduguni (2), Hendry, Andrew Findlater, replacement Jamie Carson, full back Ruaridh McDonald and replacement Mike Gordon.
Fortunately for Grammar stand off Carson was off form with the boot, converting only two of the seven touchdowns.
Grammar had to settle for one from Shepherd, converted by Paxton.
The win takes Highland into fifth place, while Grammar are deep in the relegation area, 12 points behind GHK on a day when the weather was the winner, resulting in only three games being played in the Caledonian area, including the one at Canal Park.
In Kirkwall, Orkney battled through the driving rain to see off the challenge of Royal High, keeping them in top half of National League Three after a 19-10 win.
The islanders led 12-0 at half but failed in the second half to gain a vital try bonus.
The home try scorers were Scott Russell, Robbie Firth and Ewan Stevenson.
Connor Hancock kicked two conversions.
In the only Caledonian League game, Moray kept their Caley 2 North title push on track in Lerwick where they beat Shetland 32-5.
