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.

Halkirk sunset this evening

Loch More, by Halkirk

Thurso river and the Ulbster Arms Hotel, Halkirk

 I rushed along to Loch More this evening to catch the red sky sunset and then went along to the riverside at Halkirk to catch the reflections from the Ulbster Arms Hotel.

Wick Academy vs Inverurie Locos (1-0)

Andy Reid makes a brave save from Wick's Sam MacKay

Graham Elder books Davie Allan and No.8 Scott Begg for an altercation in the box

Scott Begg heads off the line to stop a certain goal as Davie Allan waits

Locos' goalie Andy Reid with an easy catch

Stevie Cunningham and Locos captain Clark Bain

Gary Weir lines up to score

Gary Weir watches his chip sail over the Locos defence into the net

Gary Weir celebrates

Ross Allan in action

Locos' Marc Young stops Ros Allan

James Pickles advances on goal

Wick Academy beat Inverurie Locos 1-0 at Harmsworth Park today, with substitute Gary Weir scoring early after 63 mins. The Scorries stay 5 points clear at the top of the Highland League.

Locos went down to 10 men after only 16 mins following an altercation on the Academy byeline that nobody was sure about - apart from referee Graham Elder who showed a straight red.  The match was then a tough battle on the very soft ground, with many players sliding all over the place. Both sides were evenly matched, but the game was not exciting for the spectators. Wick just had the edge with a couple of scorned chances in the first half.

Luckas Geruzel gave way to Gary Weir at half-time and Gary chipped the defence and the goalkeeper on 63 mins to win the game. Locos threw everything at Wick near the end, but could not breach the defence. There were 5 bookings on top of the sending off.

Thurso lost 5-3 away to Muir of Ord and had 2 players sent off. Halkirk Utd lost 3-1 away to Alness. Both games were in the cup.

Caithness RFC's match away to Gordonians was postponed.