Caithness RFC vs Waysiders

Caithness beat Waysiders Drumpellier (from Coatbridge) 20-8 yesterday in bright sunshine at Millbank. The game was a tough one and if it wasn't for the brilliance of scrum-half Kris Hamilton with two tries, Caithness could have lost.

Wick Academy vs Huntly

Wick Academy lost 3-0 to Huntly today at the Harmsworth Park. Wick had plenty of good chances, but just didn't have the killer touch in front of goal. Their two main strikers, Gary Weir and David Allan were missing. Huntly centre forward Andrew Fraser scored the first goal (above).

The weather was perfect, but after half-time it was too dull to get sharp action photos.

Halkirk's New Lights

Prior to the fireworks display tonight, Halkirk's Gala Queen switched on the new floodlights for the War Memorial, Ross Institute and the Church. The lights highlight particular aspects of each building and so are not just the usual "full-on" floodlights.

After heavy rain at 6 O'Clock, the evening turned out to be perfect and a large crowd enjoyed a 30 min fireworks display.

It was my first time at taking photos of fireworks and it turned out to be tricky to get the perfect shot. However, it was good practice for tomorrow night's fireworks display organised by Thurso Round Table at Thurso Harbour (7pm).

SWPP Awards for October

I'm pleased to say that I have picked up another gold award in the SWPP monthly competition (for October). The above photo of the Crown Estate's Duncan MacKay, was taken at the recent Caithness Regeneration Conference held in the Wick Assembly rooms. This photo now goes forward to the SWPP Photographer of the Year final, which will be held in London on 17th January 2010.

I also picked up two silvers for my sports photos, below. The surfing pic was taken at the O'Neill Cold Water Classic event at Brims Ness last April. The seagull just happened to be flying alongside the surfer as I clicked away.

The racing car is Thurso's James Brims at the Caithness Car Club sprint, held at the Littleferry track, Golspie, in September.

Thurso vs Halkirk Utd

In a thrilling match at the Dammies, Thurso beat local rivals Halkirk Utd 3-2 in the North Caledonian league top of the table clash. A huge crowd watched Thurso see off their nearest challengers in dull and eventually very wet conditions. It was so dull that getting sharp photos was near impossible after half-time.

In the above pic, Halkirk's Jimmy Budge is about to unleash a shot that bulged the back of the net for his side's equaliser at 2-2.

Halloween in Holywood

Thurso's Comm Bar held a fancy dress competition on Halloween night with the theme being "Halloween in Hollywood". Scott wanted some pics of the winners with their "Oscars" - see above.

Laurel & Hardy took top prize (Kerrie MacDonald & Isabel Ross), The Joker was 2nd (Mike Miller) and The pressure of Hollywood was 3rd (Leanne Wood). The judges had a very difficult job.

The bar was absolutely jumping all night and it was very difficult to get some pics of the other entrants without getting shoved or bumped. The costumes and make up were fantastic and Scott and staff were dressed up as well - see below. I think Scott will have a red/purple face for a few more days - I'm not sure how he will get it off.

The band (The London Gentlemen) also joined in the fun by dressing up as superheros.