Ross Sutherland struggle on the road as Caledonia Bowl run ends at first hurdle

An old foe reared its ugly head for Ross Sutherland last weekend, as they continued to struggle on the road.

Travel has long been an issue for the Stags, who only won one game away from Invergordon last season.

Opening day had been set up to be a clash of the previous two winners of the National Bowl as Ross Sutherland travelled through to Aberdeenshire, but it turned out not to be much of a contest as John Mann’s side lost 59-0.

There were other factors coming into play – Mann himself being out injured, Aberdeenshire having a stronger team – but what will frustrate Ross Sutherland is the feeling that they never got into the game after a couple of hours on the bus.

“I had said that it was an exciting squad, we were looking to play some pretty expansive rugby,” Mann said.

“But on the day we just came up against a better team.

“When you play away, you often take that first 10 or 20 minutes to get into the game, but we really struggled."

Read more in today's North Star.

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