Halkirk vs Muir of Ord

James MacKay shoots

James Mackay watches his shot go wide

Grant MacNab scores the first

Alan Hughes battles for the ball

Matthew Mackay avoids a flying tackle

James MacKay scores a penalty

Steven Morris scores the 4th

Steven Morris hits one over the bar to nearly win the game

Grant MacNab is fouled by John Skinner

Halkirk Utd lost on penalties to Muir of Ord in the cup today. After going behind 3-0 in the first 20 mins, Grant MacNab then scored two as Halkirk woke up and other Halkirk players missed easy chances in the latter stages of the first half.

James MacKay scored a penalty to equalise in the 2nd half, but Ewen Dance also scored a penalty to make it 4-3 with 10 mins to go. Steven Morris then scored a late equaliser and should have scored in the last minute to win the game, but blasted over.

The score stayed 4-4 and Muir won 3-2 on penalties. I had to leave during extra time, so missed the dramatic finish.

Thurso lost 2-1 to Alness after extra time. Wick lost 2-1 to Brora in the league cup.

Caithness RFC beat Highland 19-15 in Inverness.

Caithness RFC vs Orkney

Caithness beat Orkney 19-17 today at Millbank. This was their last home match. I had to leave after only 15 mins to attend the Wick vs Fort William game.

Wick vs Fort William

Gary Weir juggles to control the ball

Luckasz Geruzel watches his header clear the bar

Gary Weir beats Gary farquhar

Sam MacKay congratulates Gary Weir on scoring

Luckasz Geruzel just misses a cross

Luckasz Geruzel fails to control a corner ball

Luckasz Geruzel had this effort cleared off the line

Sam MacKay battles with Iain Foggo

Wick manager Barry Wilson take s corner

James Pickles at full stretch

Douglas Ross books Gary Weir for dissent

Wick remain on top of the league after scraping through 1-0 against bottom of the table Fort William at Harmsworth park today.  Gary Weir scored mid-way through the first half with a header. Wick had all the play but could not score. Not a great match for the fans. The ref, Douglas Ross, booked at least 3 Wick players at the end of the match for dissent, as they were not happy with his some of his decisions.

My pics should be in the Sunday Mail tomorrow.

RBS Six Nations - Scotland & Ireland Fans

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I had a wander through the Murrayfield crowd before the start of the RBS Six Nations match between Scotland and Ireland and snapped some of the fans mingling with each other and enjoying a few drinks before taking their seats. The Grouse Ginger Bar and live band was very popular.

The Irish fans appeared to dress up more for the occasion. It is a totally different atmosphere from a football match where no drink is allowed and fans rarely mix.

RBS Six Nations - Scotland vs Italy

Murray MacKenzie from Westfield, Caithness, had the honour of being a mascot and stands in front of 6'9" Richie Gray

I managed to gain a media accreditation pass for the Scotland vs Italy RBS Six Nations match at Murrayfield, Edinburgh on 9th February. The rugby union tournament is widely recognised as the best of its kind in the world.

With a crowd of 50,000 and Scotland winning by 34-10, the atmosphere was terrific. I used two cameras (with a 70-200mm f2.8L and a 300mm f4.0L lens) to capture the 80 mins of action and with such an exciting game, I ended up with 1,000 photos!

Murray MacKenzie of the Caithness mini rugby club was chosen to be one of the 22 mascots and I managed to get some photos of him singing the Flower of Scotland anthem in front of Richie Gray, a possible player for the forthcoming British Lions tour.