AFTER a season which has spanned 23 games, Preston Lodge achieved the historic feat of competing a treble, consisting of the RBS East Regional League Division 1, the Edinburgh Regional Shield and now the RBS Shield following their 27-6 defeat of Caithness.

PL had shown their steel in their two previous games in the Shield, coming from behind to beat RHC and Irvine, and they would have to do so again against the Greens from the far north east of the country.

However, this time they had 76 minutes to overturn a deficit and at no point during the game, played at a sunbaked Broadwood Stadium, did they look like they were going to be travelling back to East Lothian with runners-up medals.

Graeme Patterson added seven more points to the more than 300 he has already scored this season, while tries were scored by Blair Robertson, Paul Voy and Dale Gordon, plus a penalty try to give PL the lead.

As captain Blair Cowan was presented with the Shield by ex-Scotland legend Chris Paterson, no one in the stadium could have begrudged PL the victory.

PL got proceedings under way and looked to exert pressure in the Caithness half, but a drop ball at a lineout gave possession to the Greens, who wasted no time in putting points on the board.

Pressure in and around PL’s 22 saw the county side pinged for holding on at the breakdown, allowing Caithness stand-off Liam Brims to send a kick through the posts, giving the Greens a fourth-minute 3-0 lead.

The lead lasted for all of three minutes as Patterson, like his near-namesake Chris did so many times for Scotland, found the gap between the posts to level the scores from 25 metres after PL were awarded a penalty of their own.

PL were standing up well to the physical presence put up by Caithness, who came into the game undefeated in 2014. After any nerves had dissipated, PL began to take control, moving the ball into dangerous areas and keeping it there.

The constant pressure was enough to force the sin bin of Caithness’ Andy Morris prior to the opening try of the game. With the PL pack only a matter of yards from the whitewash, they drove froward in the scrum and with Paul Voy primed to collect the ball to go over, the Greens brought the scrum down, resulting in the referee awarding a penalty try.

Patterson clipped the ball between the posts with his left boot as PL took a 10-3 lead with a quarter of an hour played.

The try signalled the start of a stodgy period of play, with defences on top and few risks being taken. Just short of the 30-minute mark, Caithness reduced the score to 10-6 as Brims belted a penalty from about 40 yards. Ten minutes earlier he had seen a penalty effort come back off the post from a similar distance.

PL’s stand-off Andrew Clark was prominent in a lot of PL’s good play, whether it was quick and neat passing or something a bit more imaginative – his chip pass out to the right appeared to have brought about a try as Chris Thomas fed Dale Gordon to drive over, but the referee brought it back as the final pass was deemed to have been played forward.

That play seemed to act as a catalyst for PL to express themselves a bit more. Wingers Paul Glynn and Finlay Hughes had more involvement, having previously been on the periphery of the game.

If there was going to be a second try before half-time it would have likely came from one of their bursts, but such is the threat from all areas of the park with this PL side it was actually Blair Robertson who doubled PL’s try count.

Smart play freed the rangy centre to stride towards the line and touchdown.Patterson made a difficult conversion look like the easiest thing in the world as he added the extras.

PL went into the break with a 17-6 lead and supportive shouts from the travelling contingent, many of whom were wearing PL tops.

Hughes continued where he left off at the start of the second half with a positive run which uneased the Caithness backline to the point all they could do was concede a penalty. It was a run that typified Hughes’ performance, with the youngster unfortunate not to record a try of his own.

The penalty was awarded in a promising position so Patterson opted for a kick into the corner as PL sought a third try. And they were to be rewarded as from the resultant lineout Voy scored a well-deserved try. However, Patterson wasn’t quite so accurate with the conversion, leaving the score at 22-6.

Head coach Mark Steedman made changes throughout the second half but it was two of the starters who nearly conjured up a fourth try which would have effectively put the game to bed. More strong running from Robertson opened up Caithness and with Hughes in support, he fed the winger, who was thwarted just as it looked like he was going to score that illusive try.

Caithness had the chance to add three points to their score after being awarded a penalty but Brims pushed his effort right from an angle.

It appeared to give PL a little jolt as they soon wrapped up the game in the 55th minute as scrum=half Dale Gordon, one of the many youngsters in the team who produced an impressive performance, went over in the corner.

PL had applied constant pressure in Caithness’ 22, a feature of their game, and it was from a scrum where Gordon emerged with the ball and, with youthful exuberance on his side, he opted to go it alone. Just as he was about to reach the line he appeared to be stopped, only for an Inspector-Gadget-like arm to reach out and touch down, giving PL a 27-6 lead.

It was the end of the scoring as the heat and raft of substitutions slowed the pace of the game down. PL’s relentless pressure throughout the game had taken its toll on the northerners, who were guilty of rushed passing and wayward kicks throughout.

However, the Greens nearly had the last word when Kris Hamilton went to the line but their joy was short-lived as the referee pulled play back.

It was a thoroughly deserved win for PL, who produced a dominant display against strong opposition on the biggest stage of the season, leaving the travelling PL fans delighted with what they witnessed.

PL’s focus now switches to their final game of the season on Saturday when they play North Berwick in the East Lothian Cup final in ‘Finals Day’ at Dunbar, hoping to complete an incredible quadruple.

Preston Lodge: G Patterson, F Hughes, C Thomas, B Robertson, P Glynn; A Clark, D Gordon; D Eales, P Johnstone, S Rodgers, B Stoddart, B Cowan, J Riley, C Dixon, P Voy. Subs: J Sked, E Higgins, P Dixon, J Brash, R Mackie, S McLean, D Lockie.