Hart on fire as Brora rout Vikings
Thurso 1 Brora Rangers 7
Scorers — Thurso: Murray pen (23). Brora – Greig (4), S. Mackay (8), Baxter (28, 60, 73), Craig (58), Hart (71).
BRORA breezed past the Vikings on Wednesday evening to book a return trip to Hamsworth Park to play Wick Academy in the semi-final of the AJG Parcels North of Scotland Cup.
The slick Sutherland outfit have invested in a clutch of quality players and showed the major progress they have made with their opening Highland League victory at the home of champions Forres Mechanics.
The Vikings gamely recovered from the loss of two early goals to go in at the interval just 2-1 down.
But they were over-run in the second half when their defence was regularly horribly exposed.
The stand-out player on the evening was former Ross County, Inverness CT and Dundee midfielder Richie Hart.
The 34-year-old, in his second stint with the Dudgeon Park combine, displayed the vision and range of passing which had made him one of the north’s hottest prospects in his heyday.
Thurso played their part in an open, entertaining contest and manager Stevie Reid was happy with the last North Caley League pre-season work-out for his new-look side.
That their energy levels dipped was unsurprising given that most had been in action with their county league sides 24 hours earlier.
Hart just missed the target with a long-range free-kick before his side went two up within eight minutes.
Andrew Greig exchanged passes with Steven Mackay before burying a shot past keeper Graeme Williamson after four minutes.
Then Steven Mackay struck after getting on the end of Tom Smith’s assist.
Thurso recovered well from the setbacks and Graham MacNab had a netbound shot deflected wide before they pulled a goal back on 23 minutes.
James Murray, who had missed a snip to open the scoring, was balked in the box by former ICT stopper Stuart Golabek and the striker stepped up to blast home the spot-kick.
That prompted a sprightly spell for the Vikings and Brora keeper Alistair Ridgers was fully extended to prevent Murray levelling with a powerful drive.
The tie was put beyond Thurso as Brora stepped up a couple of gears in the third quarter as Hart orchestrated a string of incisive attacks.
A defensive mix-up let in sub Liam Baxter to make it 3-1 three minutes after the turnaround.
MacNab went close with a snap-shot after good work from Murray but the Vikings conceded again on 58 minutes when Baxter set Craig free to fire past Williamson.
The Thurso keeper did well to block a Hart piledriver and was then relieved to see Dale Gillespie’s chip come off the face of his crossbar.
Baxter and Hart added further counters with Alan Sinclair clearing a Mackay effort off the line before Baxter completed his hat-trick with a simple finish on 73 minutes.
To their credit, Thurso enjoyed parity of possession in the closing stages when Colin Sinclair and Darryn Mackay showed up well in midfield and helped create several half-chances.
Academy fans among the sparse crowd were left to reflect on the challenge the Scorries will face against Brora in their bid to claim a second successive appearance in the NoS Cup final.
Thurso – Williamson, Florence, Harrold, A. Sinclair, C. Sinclair, Ross (Banks 63), Wann (S. Sinclair 70), MacNab, Murray, Mackay, Elder (Sutherland 63). Subs (unused) – MacGregor and Shearer.
Brora Rangers – Ridgers, Innes (MacLean 54), Golabeck (J. Mackay 70), Hind, Smith, Gibb, Gillespie, Hart, Kerr (Baxter h/t), S. Mackay, Greig. Subs (unused) – Taylor and Lamb).
Ref – Mr G. Elder.