Thurso's defeat in basement battle was 'beyond belief'
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Manager Scott Davidson admits Thurso have put themselves "right up against it" after losing at home to Bonar Bridge in last weekend's North Caledonian League basement battle.
However, the Vikings have a chance to make amends – and cut the gap at the bottom of the table to three points – when the teams meet again on Saturday at Migdale.
After a goalless first half at the Dammies, the Sutherland side went ahead through Robbie Breen on 47 minutes. Michael Petrie got an equaliser 10 minutes later but Jack Corbett secured all three points for Bonar in the 80th minute.
“It's just beyond belief how we managed to not get something from that game," Davidson said. "I made myself pretty clear after it that it was a game that we under no circumstances should be losing.
“One positive maybe is that we've got Saturday now to put that result right, a quick turnaround on it."
There was a serious injury blow for Thurso in the first half when experienced full-back Allan Munro suffered possible knee ligament damage.
“That was a big loss," Davidson said. "It was like a coming together and he came off worse.
"He's waiting to see a specialist now.
“He is a steady guy to play in defence and that made me have to reshuffle things a bit. We had another injury in the first half to Don Swanson, who has come in to help us for the remaining games of the season.
“We're not getting much luck. But we'll go down there on Saturday with a firm belief that we can get three points and still try to climb off the bottom of the league.
“It's still not a great position to be in. We've obviously put ourselves right up against it now with losing that game.
“But we'll try to win all of our remaining games. This is our last away game and we'll have three at home, which will be Loch Ness, Orkney and Halkirk United.
"That's potentially 12 points to play for. We're going to challenge ourselves to go and win all of those games."
Meanwhile, Davidson revealed that he had asked for a postponement of the away fixture against Inverness Athletic two Saturdays ago as Thurso were so short of players.
The match went ahead as planned and the Vikings endured a club record 13-0 defeat – a "freak result", according to Davidson.
"We had 17 missing from a 25-man squad through injury and illness," he said. "There seemed to be a lot of boys that were ill after our game at Golspie on the Wednesday night.
“I did approach the league about it. I said that we'd be willing to travel down in midweek to get that game played at a later date, but it fell on deaf ears.
“From the Thursday when players told me they were ill, I was just flat out trying to pull boys in. I couldn't make that game on the Saturday either."
Results – Saturday – North Caledonian League: Fort William 3, Golspie Sutherland 1; Invergordon 1, Halkirk United 1; Orkney 0, Loch Ness 3; Thurso 1, Bonar Bridge 2. North Caledonian Cup, quarter-final: Clachnacuddin "A" 3, Alness United 1.
Wednesday – League: Clachnacuddin "A" 2, Inverness Athletic 4; Golspie Sutherland 3, Alness United 2.
Fixtures – Saturday, March 16 – North Caledonian League: Bonar Bridge v Thurso (1pm); Clachnacuddin "A" v Invergordon; Halkirk United v Alness United (1pm); Inverness Athletic v Fort William; Orkney v St Duthus.
North Caledonian Cup, quarter-final: Golspie Sutherland v Loch Ness.
