Highland 22
Peebles 15
Allan Beveridge at Canal Park
IT was a long day to forget for Peebles on Saturday.
Not only did they endure a lengthy journey up and down to Inverness but they suffered a double whammy in the closing five or six minutes to have victory snatched away.
A strong wind was always going to make life difficult for both teams, but inconsistent refereeing and some bizarre decisions created a great deal of confusion.
Peebles found themselves trailing after just four minutes as the Highland stand-off's chip over the top bounced nicely on the artificial surface for the winger to gather and race in for the try.
Worse was to follow just a few minutes later as Peebles pushed the hosts back within five metres of the line.
Highland's scrum half threw a deep pass to his stand off and as Donald Anderson raced through for an attempted charge down or tackle he was grabbed by a prop.
The Pees scrum-half's attempt to free himself and continue towards the stand-off was deemed to be a deliberate hit at the face.
A red card was shown to the Peebles number nine and Highland awarded a penalty.
Despite being down to 14 players Peebles levelled a short time later.
David Wills took a quick tap penalty just inside the Highland half and offloaded to Ryan Stewart on the 22 to outstrip the defence and score.
The wind was causing havoc with the kicks.
And a short time after the Peebles conversion blew wide, a home penalty struck the upright.
Only a try-saving tackle from James Dow prevented Highland going back in front.
With half time approaching Peebles got their noses in front after winning a scrum inside the home 22.
Several drives later Ross Brown barged his way over for the try.
Greg Raeburn made it 12-5 with the conversion.
Peebles were reduced to 13 players just before the interval as Richard Harrison was shown a yellow card.
And the visitors had to defend well to prevent Highland closing the gap.
The home team did pull a try back just after half time with a player going over in the corner.
With 14 players back on the park again Peebles extended their lead to 15-10 with a Raeburn penalty.
But just a minute or two later Ross Brown was also shown yellow.
Despite the numerical disadvantage Peebles continued to win the scrum battle.
But into the final 10 minutes Highland began to get on top with some good handling.
And they drew level in the 78th minute as Raeburn's attempted clearance was charged down.
The conversion gave the hosts a slender 17-15 advantage.
And deep into stoppage time Highland went over again for a final score of 22-15.
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