Caithness U16s will look to build on five-star performance at Elgin
Caithness United under-16s travelled to Moray on Sunday to take on a well-drilled Elgin City side in a challenge match, and they enjoyed the journey home in jubilant mood after delivering “a performance that was worthy of a larger margin than their 5-3 victory suggests”.
That was the verdict of their coach Alan Kennedy, who said: “We started off a little slowly, but that wasn’t too surprising given the length of time the boys were sitting on the bus beforehand. We still looked like we were managing the game relatively comfortably but fell foul of some sloppiness in defence.
"However, the lads stuck rigidly to the plan we set out for them and they showed some class during the match, particularly in the final 30 minutes. A few of the goals we scored were of real quality, working the ball quickly back to front, keeping possession and delivering dangerous balls into the area which were met with some clinical finishing.”
Kennedy added: “We had a number of excellent performances. The whole team kept asking Elgin questions with some high-tempo play both on and off the ball.
"We were quite pleasing on the eye for most of the match too, but that was countered slightly by a couple of lapses in concentration which led to Elgin keeping a foothold in the game.
"Overall, though, we are content with the performance and now we’ll look to build on that result after the October break when we return to league action.”
The Caithness goals were scored by Morgan Kennedy (2), Lewis Swan, Josh Hughes and Matthew Mackay.
Inverness Royal Academy was the venue for Caithness United under-14s' latest Moray Firth Youth Development League match against Balloan Athletic.
United eased their way to a comfortable 7-0 victory with goals from Tyler Gordon (2), Cody Miller (2), Max Ross (2) and John Mullally.
Caithness coach Stewart Ross said: “I’m delighted for the squad. After a couple of disappointing performances away to Alness and home to Balloan United, last week's point at home to Dingwall and today's win away to Balloan Athletic shows signs we are starting to gel and implement some of the hard work we are putting in at training.
"Without playing at what I’d say would be our best, the boys still ran out comfortable winners. However, there will be tougher tests ahead and the boys need to replicate the effort and application from the Dingwall game if we are to avenge those previous results and show that we are learning and developing as a side.”
Caithness United U12s' participation in football festivals in Tain and Inverness last weekend has been hailed as a good learning experience for the youngsters.
In the Tain festival on Saturday, Caithness had wins against Tain "A" (2-1), Invergordon (2-1), Clach (2-0) and Tain "B" (2-1) and were beaten 1-0 by both Avoch and Alness.
U12 coach Murray Coghill said: “We were a little unlucky to have a couple of narrow defeats, but these are all good learning experiences for the squad.
"The four wins we did get were very much deserved and we played some excellent football. Overall, we are very pleased with what we saw from the squad, especially with some of the messages we’re giving them at training being visible in their play.”
Caithness squad: Jake Macbeath, Liam MacNab, Liam Shearer, Sam Coghill, Ross Moodie, Will Munro, Kayden McFeat, Rory Anderson, Ruaridh Kean, Danny Macdonald, Logan MacAdie, Cormack Ross.
On Sunday the U12s played in the Highland festival hosted by Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the Caledonian Stadium.
Caithness beat Strathspey Thistle (4-0) and Dornoch (8-1), drew 1-1 with Forres and lost to Clach (1-3), ICT (0-7), Tain (0-2) and Elgin City (1-3).
Coghill said: “Our squad experienced some tough results in Inverness but we still have plenty of positives to take. It seemed to get harder for the lads as the day went on, where we came up against more physical and streetwise teams than us at the moment.
"The two festivals, travelling to and from the venues, and the early starts definitely took their toll, but we are sure the experience of playing at the Caledonian Stadium against a very good standard of opposition will prove valuable for us all going forward.”
Caithness squad: Lucas Reid, Liam Shearer, Sam Coghill, Ross Moodie, Will Munro, Ruaridh Kean, Danny Macdonald, Cormack Ross, Ross Mackay, Seth Bunch.