Halkirk United looking to reel in good form in North Caledonian League
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Ewan McElroy said he expects St. Duthus to be no pushovers on Saturday as his team are set to face the Tain outfit on Saturday at Morrison Park.
The Halkirk United manager was left mildly infuriated with his squad’s inability to control the tempo in their last match against Alness in the first round of the Football Times Cup and expects a better showing from his squad this weekend, as the home side struck twice in the first half, before Mark Munro's 76th minute strike gave Halkirk some semblance of hope in the final minutes, but were inevitably condemned to their first defeat of the season.
“We were really poor in the first half and struggled to get to grips with the game. We played at a level far below what we're normally capable of. I thought we played better in the second half and created a number of chances which was pleasing to see, but we were unable to convert and in the end we were made to pay for it.
"We’ve trained a couple of times this week and we’ve worked on a couple things so hopefully we’re best prepared for whatever St. Duthus throw at us”
With the squad and manager’s sights now firmly set on maintaining their positive start in the North Caledonian League, with a 2-0 win over Thurso coming on the opening day of the season with goals courtesy of Jonah Martens and Andrew Mackay, McElroy expects to come up against a physically imposing and demanding St. Duthus side.
“It’s going to be another really tough game on Saturday. We lost on both occasions last year and we know it will be a very demanding and draining game, but one we are looking forward to as we try to end our poor run against them.”
Halkirk will be aided by the returns of John Budge, Aaron Wilson and defender Aidan Reid as they look to win only their second game in the North Caledonian League, but are likely to be without the services of Colin Henstridge, Aiden Miller and midfielder Ben Sinclair.
Halkirk United face St. Duthus at Morrison Park, Halkirk on September 2. Kick-off is at 2pm.
