Forres hit for six as Caithness United under-13s return to action
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AFTER enduring three postponements in as many weeks, Caithness United under-13s finally got the second half of their Moray Firth Youth Development League campaign under way with a 6-0 victory over Forres Mechanics.
An energetic and fluent Caithness team hit the ground running in Sunday's encounter at the Naver all-weather pitch in Thurso, settling into a fast-paced passing game which had Forres on the back foot from the off.
The home side's pressure was relieved only sporadically by Forres when wind-assisted clearances cleared the Caithness back line only to nestle in the hands of Lee Gordon in goal.
Matthew Robertson and Matthew Mackay, who have developed a great partnership on the Caithness left flank throughout the season, saw plenty of the ball in the early stages and both players put in some dangerous crosses.
Sam Reid was unfortunate to pick up an early knock which saw the influential forward having to be replaced by Morgan Kennedy.
Owen Bain was using the strong, gusty headwind to his advantage by playing some well-weighted through balls beyond the Forres back line of Dawson, McKee, Hepple and Ross.
Kennedy benefited from an Owen Bain through ball to score the first of the day.
Caithness were unlucky not to score more in the first period. Josh Sutherland was finding gaps between the opposition defence and midfield and demanding the ball.
The hard-working Sam Shearer turned provider in the second period when, after more Caithness pressure, they earned a corner. Shearer’s inswinging delivery allowed Lewis Swan to side-foot the ball past Grant Napier in the Forres goal.
With the wind behind them Caithness were seldom out of the Forres half in the second period. Owen Bain rifled home the third goal of the day from the edge of the box.
Forres huffed and puffed but could get no joy from a miserly Caithness defence with Arran Bain and Kyran Alexander proving formidable as a centre-half pairing.
The fourth goal was a left-foot thunderbolt from distance by Matthew Robertson which flew across the keeper and into the bottom right-hand corner.
Shearer’s second assist came from another inswinging corner which everyone missed apart from Kennedy, who nodded the ball in at the far post for his second of the day.
The final goal was scored by Lee Gordon, who, having been relieved of his goalkeeping duties by Arran Bain, finished the game as a forward. After some neat passing on the right-hand side the ball was squared to Gordon, who tucked it home from 10 yards past replacement keeper McIntosh.
Caithness coach Steve Bain said: "After such a long break we were very pleased with the showing Caithness put on. Every player did themselves proud.
"Not only did we play some very pleasing football but the team worked really hard for each other. We never gave Forres an opportunity to get into the game.
"It was true team performance which made picking a man of the match very difficult. We chose centre-half Arran Bain as Arran is one of the younger members of our squad and he frequently put himself in the right place at the right time to cut out any threat, and retained possession by picking passes from the back."
