Caithness United U14s ‘can be a match for any team’
Coach Craig Ross insisted Caithness United’s under-14s “can be a match for any team” after they put in a much-improved performance in a 2-0 defeat to table-topping Clachnacuddin at the Wick campus.
The Inverness side had won every game this season but there was no way through for them in a keenly contested first period on Saturday as both teams cancelled each other out.
Clach took the lead in the second 30 when Conor Headridge controlled a whipped cross before swivelling past the defence and firing the ball past keeper Liam Bruce.
Caithness came close to an equaliser when a shot from Dhaill Mackay was diverted round a post by the keeper. The well-organised Clach defence restricted Caithness to efforts from outside the box.
In the final third, United continued to push hard only to be dealt a sucker punch when Clach were awarded a penalty. Ben Fraser managed to squeeze the spot-kick past keeper Charlie Breeze.
Ross said: “Despite the result, this was a much-improved performance by the under-14s against very strong opposition. The boys did what we had asked of them in the team talk by making sure we started a lot quicker than the last couple of games, and we were unfortunate to not take something from it.
“They were much more organised and aggressive and they moved the ball a lot better. If they can replicate this same performance in our remaining matches, I have no doubt that we can be a match for any team.”
